Alex Trelinski
AUTHORITIES in the Canary Islands say that more boat migrants are slowly gaining in confidence to talk about abuses during journeys from Africa to the Spanish territory.
The Guardia Civil have described various instances of boat skippers hired by mafia gangs to mistreat anybody who falls out of line.
Well-documented cases involve a woman who had her child snatched from her to be thrown into the sea after her brother had been killed days earlier during the journey.
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A dozen people are known to have died recently as a direct result of mistreatment on board- including four on one boat in November.
Guardia Civil officers conducted painstaking inquiries and the perpetrators- after careful and patient interviews- have been detained and charged.
Three boat skippers were arrested and jailed in Tenerife, plus more were found and detained in Madrid, Leon, and Almeria.
A Guardia lieutenant based in the Canaries, and who preferred to remain anonymous, was at pains to state that the killings were ‘isolated cases’ and that murders don’t happen in all migrant boats.
A code of silence sees migrants threatened before landing with authorities clearly seeing they are frightened and scared to identify anybody who has abused them.
Many of those who arrive come from humble backgrounds and fear that family members back home will be the subject of revenge attacks from gang members who organise sailings to Europe.
“But once we get them to feel safe and trust the Guardia Civil, the justice system and the institutions, they start talking little by little,” said the lieutenant.
Machetes and cables turned into whips are used in horrific attacks against travellers and the items are dumped by ‘ship captains’ into the water shortly before boats reach the shore to eliminate evidence.
Recent examples included a vessel that arrived at the port of La Restinga in El Hierro.
A man had a head wound that was clearly made with a machete while another had a head injury caused by a whip.
Health workers passed on details to the Guardia who did manage to make arrests once they got the confidence of victims and witnesses to make statements.
