National Navy rescues illegal boat with 13 migrants who intended to reach Panama

This Wednesday, April 20, the Colombian Navy announced that in the middle of an operation in the Chocoan Urabá, 13 migrants were rescued, including three minors, who were transporting in an illegal boat that allegedly intended to reach the coast of Panama.

The Navy reported that during maritime patrolling and control operations in the vicinity of the village of Sapzurro, Chocó, in the Gulf of Urabá, a boat piloted by two compatriots was detected that would seek to cross the border illegally, carrying 10 Venezuelan nationals and two children under the age of Peruvian nationality.

This event led to the Caribbean Naval Force, through a Rapid Reaction Unit attached to the Urabá Coast Guard Station, to pursue the boat through this border sector, which for some months has become one of the corridors through which thousands of migrants of different nationalities have become one of the corridors through which thousands of migrants of different nationalities embark on their journey through Central America with the aim of reaching the southern border of the United States.

“The crew of the Urabá Coast Guard Station, fulfilling the mission of safeguarding human life at sea, proceeded to transport foreigners safely to the Sapzurro Outpost, Chocó, where they were placed at the disposal of Migration Colombia,” said the National Navy, which assured that once they reached the the vessel verified the state of health of the people, who did not have the documentation proving their entry into the country.

He also indicated that the two Colombians who would be in command of the motor ship were placed at the disposal of the Prosecutor's Office of Acandí for the alleged crime of migrants and the boat was immobilized and handed over to the competent authorities, thus seeking to address one of the problems that has become most important in the country and that has generated a humanitarian crisis in this border region.

The Navy is constantly carrying out operations in this region in which migrants from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia have come through different situations such as social and economic crises in their countries of origin or acts of violence, with which they seek to embark on their journey to the United States in order to find better living conditions and a stability that is not provided by their nations.

“The Colombian Navy through the Caribbean Naval Force will continue to carry out operations in this region of the country to counter the illegal transport of migrants, safeguarding human life at sea and the legal use of seas and rivers for the development of safe maritime activities,” concluded the naval force.

Tragedies have occurred in this sector, such as the shipwreck of a boat last October in which at least three migrants died and five were missing, including three minors, the victims were three women, two Haitians and one Cuban who sought to reach the beaches of Panama.

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