The 168 migrants who remain on board the Civil Guard patrol boat Río Tagus in front of the port of Nouadhibou (Mauritania) will finally be returned to Senegal, as reported by the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) on Monday and sources have confirmed to Efe. of the government.
The association has valued this solution to the situation of the people who have been crowded for days on board the Armed Institute ship awaiting a resolution between the Spanish and Mauritanian authorities.
The AUGC had described the situation as “unsustainable” and had warned of the risks to the safety of the crew.
In the last hours, Interior had pointed out that the resolution of the conflict would happen “soon” after “intense negotiations” with the Mauritanian authorities and although in these days they had been working to disembark them in the nearest safe port, that of Nuadibou, Finally, it has been decided to transfer the migrants to Senegal, the country from which the rescued cayuco originally left.
According to the AUGC account, the Mauritanian authorities “prohibited” disembarkation in Nouadhibou “by threatening not to take responsibility for the rescued immigrants, a fact that has worsened when the hygiene and health situations have begun to worsen on board over the course of the days”, according to this association.
“There have been moments of great tension while they were waiting for the negotiations. The agents were forced to fire into the air before a possible riot,” says the AUGC.
