Paddling to Europe... migrants caught crossing Med on a board
MILES out in the open sea, two migrants use a paddle board to cross the choppy waters of the Mediterranean.
The pair had set off from Morocco – one in just his trunks – and headed to Spain.
They were picked up in the Strait of Gibraltar, where the waters can turn rough and huge container ships are a deadly danger.
Many other migrants have made the perilous seven-mile journey in cramped rafts, dinghies and boats.
But this pair used an even more flimsy craft, taking their lives in their hands on a paddle board – an oversized surfboard that is normally used standing up and has become a popular watersport.
Migrants from Africa are increasingly using the same route from Morocco amidst mounting calls for action over the main migration channel from lawless Libya to Italy.
The duo on the paddleboard were picked up by the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service on Wednesday. One was wearing a hooded wetsuit.
Some 123 others were plucked from the waves by the Spanish in the same 24-hour period, two in a kayak, and the rest in dinghies.
There were 58 in one rubber craft alone, 15 of them children. The International Organisation for Migration revealed earlier this year that migrant activity on the Strait of Gibraltar has risen dramatically from 2,500 in the first six months of last year to more than 8,000 over the same period this year. Up to 600 a day have been rescued.
The increase in crossings means Spain could overtake Greece this year in terms of the number of migrants arriving by sea, the UN’s International Organization for Migration has said.
Most are using the Strait of Gibraltar and many are choosing cheap, child-sized paddle boats without motors that allow them to bypass peoplesmuggling networks. In one incident near Cadiz in southern Spain this month, sunbathers were astonished to see a raft packed with migrants land on the beach.
Around 125,000 migrants have crossed from North Africa to Europe – most heading to Italy – this year already. Since 2014 some 14,000 are believed to have drowned on the way.