Boat carrying 400 illegal migrants docks in Mauritania

A boat carrying 400 illegal migrants was finally allowed to dock in Mauritania today, after being stranded for 10 days in international waters off the north-west African country’s coast, government officials said.

The wooden boat, known as the Marin 1, came ashore at the fishing port of Nouadhibou, 290 miles north of the capital of Nouakchott, said Mohamed Yahya Ould Mohamed Vall, the governor of Nouadhibou.

The migrants are a combination of African and Asians, including a large number of immigrants from Pakistan, officials said.

As the boat landed, six people were evacuated to area hospitals by the local Red Cross. Vall said there were several “serious cases of dysentery and dehydration”.

The sick are the only passengers that will be allowed to stay in the town, he said.

“Only the sick who require hospital treatment will be allowed to stay at Nouadhibou and after they get well, they will be sent to Spain and out of Mauritania to their country of origin,” Vall said.

The vessel had spent more than 10 days at sea off the coast off the African coast as Spanish and Mauritanian officials argued about what government should take them in.

Mauritania eventually agreed to let the rusty, broken-down vessel dock and allow its occupants ashore, on the condition that Spain would supply medical facilities for the migrants and planes to fly them out.

The boat is believed to have departed from further south on the West African coast en route to Spain’s Canary Islands, but ran into mechanical trouble before being intercepted by Spanish officials.