Patera intercepted carrying 38 migrants off Lanzarote coast

An inflatable craft carrying 38 migrants was intercepted 40 kilometres off the east coast of Lanzarote yesterday. Six women and two adolescents were among the occupants of the boat.

Among the arrivals was a woman without legs, who was removed from a Maritime Rescue vessel in a wheelchair when it arrived at Puerto Naos. It is the first time anyone with such a level of disability has been seen on a patera.

In the first half of this year, migrant arrivals on the Canaries have fallen by 27.8% compared to last year. Lanzarote has also received fewer arrivals after favoured routes shifted further south, arriving at the western Canaries despite the increased danger on this route.

In the last few years the profile of arrivals has changed, with more migrants arriving from the Sahel region along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and fewer from Morocco and Western Sahara.