The number of people who have reached the coasts of the Valencian Community aboard small boats has fallen to less than half during 2022, with a total of 410 people, although with a higher percentage of minors, according to data provided by the Cruz Roja.
Last year closed with 342 rescued men, 16 women and 52 minors (45 boys and 7 girls) while in 2021 the number was 848 (753 men, 26 women and 69 children).
The person in charge of the Humanitarian Care device for Immigrants in Alicante of the humanitarian institution, Marta Marín, has highlighted that in the last twelve months more children have arrived in percentage terms since they represent 12.7 percent compared to 8.1 in 2021, and has pointed out that infants have also grown and those under 7 years of age when before minors used to be almost exclusively adolescents between 15 and 17 years of age.
Regarding the decrease in total immigrants, which have gone from 848 to 410, those responsible for the Cruz Roja do not know the causes since “immigration fluctuates a lot” and “it is difficult to draw statistics” in this area where such different factors influence such as the political and socioeconomic situation of the countries of origin and other situations such as covid-19.
Boats typically spend 72 hours at sea, although vessels with more powerful engines have taken 24-48 hours to cross both shores of the Mediterranean.
The profile of the immigrant who arrives on the Alicante coast is of Algerian origin, with some occasional sub-Saharan Africans and some citizens of the Near East, and more and more family units are taking risks, with between six and seven pregnant women from 30 days of gestation to between 5 and 6 months, who arrive with abdominal pain and who are treated at the General Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante.
They reach the coasts of the province of Alicante or are rescued on the high seas in a relatively good state of health, although there are some cases of minor burns from the boat, and some cases of broken bones on boarding the boat on the Algerian coast, where there are often rocks. In addition, two of the immigrants arrived with wheelchairs due to having a disability from birth.
Most of the immigrants who arrive in Alicante have a close family network that welcomes them or directly transit to France, a country that has a very powerful Algerian community.
Once they are rescued, the immigrants receive socio-sanitary assistance at the Red Cross facilities located on pier 25 in the port of Alicante, where there are seven modules with a waiting area, an infirmary, a mediation room and a playroom, as well as a warehouse, showers, toilets and adapted bathrooms.
