Spain’s Guardia Civil police have opened an investigation following the discovery of several dead migrants in the Mediterranean Sea over the past month, and who were discovered with their hands and feet bound.
According to a report in the Diario de Mallorca, various Guardia Civil vessels have recovered at least five bodies with their limbs bound, with the first discovery on 18 May.
A Belgian-flagged private vessel sailing in waters west of Formentera reported the sighting of a body floating in the sea. When the Guardia Civil recovered the body, they discovered that it was bound hand and foot, and was also wearing an orange life jacket.
According to Diario de Mallorca, a few days later, another body appeared in similar circumstances, also in the waters off Formentera. Further discoveries were made over the past few weeks.
The police believe that all the bodies are of migrants who had been travelling by boat.
While the majority of migrants heading to Europe through Spain typically take the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, hundreds still attempt the shorter journey from North Africa to the Balearic Islands across the Mediterranean.
Guardia Civil homicide investigators suspect that the victims might have been restrained and thrown overboard during their voyage, possibly as a result of a conflict with smugglers.
However, they have acknowledged that the investigations are particularly difficult. The migrants themselves, who are victims of organised human trafficking networks, are aware that they are trying to enter Spain illegally and do not report the abuse they suffer.
Regional president Marga Prohens commented to local media that the discovery highlights ‘the cruellest side’ of the irregular migration route.
In early December last year, a 17-year-old girl who arrived in Formentera by boat reported that during the crossing she had been raped by the boat’s captain, and that the other occupants did nothing to help her. Spain’s National Police arrested the 16 men travelling with her.
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