MIAMI, United States. – The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Issac Mayo repatriated 36 Cubans this Tuesday, after three rescue operations near the Florida Keys, according to the United States Coast Guard in a press release.
According to that source, last Friday the watchmen of the Key West Coast Guard Sector were notified of the presence of a rustic boat with Cuban rafters, around 4:45 in the afternoon, some 43 miles south of that point.
Just two hours later, lookouts were tipped off to another rustic craft about 60 miles south of their location.
Finally, last Sunday they received information about another artisanal vessel that, around 10:00 in the morning, was about 28 miles south of Islamorada.
“Our crews work tirelessly to ensure the South Florida Straits remain safe,” said Lt. Paul Benyovszky, Deputy Chief of Enforcement for Coast Guard Sector Key West. “These migration attempts are inherently dangerous and these men, women and children are at great risk trying to navigate unpredictable seas in unsafe, overloaded and crude vessels,” he added.
Cubans continue to throw themselves into the sea, indicates the Coast Guard
“We urge families in the United States to encourage their loved ones to migrate legally,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mark Cobb, a security officer for Coast Guard District Seven in the wake of the skyrocketing illegal migration of Cubans in recent years. going from the current fiscal year.
“Illegally crossing the unpredictable Florida Straits in crude and improvised boats is very dangerous and can result in loss of life,” he added.
Since October 1, 2021, the start of the current fiscal year, US Coast Guard crews have intercepted 2 464 Cubans, a figure that exceeds the number of migrants from the island intercepted each fiscal year from 2017 to 2021.
According to the agency, the statistics have behaved as follows: 5,396 Cubans intercepted in fiscal year 2016; 1,468 in 2017; 259 in 2018; 313 in 2019; 49 in 2020 and 838 in 2021.
“Once aboard a Coast Guard patrol boat, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention,” the Coast Guard has indicated on other occasions.
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