10 Cuban Migrants were rescued from a tiny sinking vessel 40 miles off the coast of Florida. The migrants were found with no lifejackets or safety equipment.
News in Detail
According to the reports, a U.S. coast guard spotted the small vessel about 40 miles off Key Largo. Six migrants were repatriated to Cuba and four others were evacuated to Florida for further medical treatment. The rescue team came two weeks after a boat believed to be used for human smuggling capsized off Florida’s coast. Only one of the 40 passengers survived.
Official Statements
According to the commanding officer of Air Station Miami ” They did not have lifejackets or safety equipment. if the air crew hadn’t found them on the patrol, they would have not survived the night”. Six migrants were repatriated to Cuba and Four others were evacuated to Florida for medical treatment, stated by the Coast Guard.
Other Details
Many people are so eager to reach the U.S. that they are willing to make the perilous journey from the islands with the help of people smugglers. The U.S. deported around 838 Cubans who were stopped entering at sea in the last Fiscal year, Which ran from October 1, 2020, to September 3, 2021, The highest total since nearly 1,500 were sent back in 2017.
The spike in Cubans fleeing the communist-run island over the last two years has been primarily driven by the loss of basic goods, restrictions on civil liberties and the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic as residents have taken to the streets in a mass demonstrations that have not been seen since before former leader Fidel Castro came into power.
The rescue team came two weeks after a boat believed to be used for human smuggling capsized off Florida’s coast en route from the Bahamas. One among them all is survived. The sole survivor of the capsized boat spent two days clinging to the vessel and lost his younger sister in the process.
The survivor’s name is Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo. He is 22 years old from Colombia. He was rescued by members of the coast guard on January 25 for about 45 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet state park. The vessel had left the island of Bimini just days earlier on January 22 which included immigrants from countries such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, The Bahamas and Jamaica.
The survivor’s younger sister Maria Camila Montoya was 18 years old and was also on board with him as the pair planned to travel to Texas to reunite with their mother. The boat’s motor had broke down early only hours after departing on January 23 which resulted in the Vessel adrift in the sea for about four hours.
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