- Red Cross, Mojácar local assembly, stages sessions in the locality on health and humanitarian care for people reaching the coast on small boats
The Spanish Red Cross, Mojácar Local Assembly, in collaboration with Mojácar council, organised an explanatory session on health and humanitarian care for people reaching our coasts in small boats.
The meeting was held in the Mojácar Multi-purpose Centre, with more than 50 professionals attending. They included Local Police, Civil Protection, health workers, municipal experts and the mayors of Turre, Garrucha and Mojácar. Mojácar Mayor Rosa María Cano was joined by her govening team.
Mojácar Assembly Spanish Red Cross President Concepción Rivero Puche, together with the local committee, promoted the initiative as a result of the increase in the arrival of migrants to our coasts in dinghies and small boasts and due to the need for coordination between all the administrations involved in these cases, as well as to explain the action protocol which the Spanish Red Cross follows.
The presentations were given by Esther Cortés García, the provincial head of the Red Cross Health and Emergencies Unit department, Marga Veiga del Pino, provincial head of the ERIE AHI project, and Salvador Gálvez Sánchez, who is part of the same project: Immediate Response Team in Emergencies and Humanitarian Assistance to Immigrants.
During their presentations the speakers explained the characteristics of the arrivals on the Almerian coast, the activation and organisation of the emergencies presence set out in the Red Cross protocol, as well as the assistance and attention circuit for the recent arrivals.
According to Red Cross Almería figures, in 2021 1,600 people reached our coastline, a lower number than in previous years during the same dates. The year in which the highest number of arrivals was registered was 2018.
As the Red Cross explained, before the arrivals were on large boats which were intercepted and rescued at sea, with a majority of Sub-Saharans. These days, they arrive on small boats which reach the beach directly, and with a majority of Maghrebis, and with a large number coming from Algeria.
The Mojácar Red Cross Local Assembly not only carries out valuable work in assisting the migrants who reach the Almería Levante region coast. Throughout the year they work hard attending to the needs of the area’s vulnerable residents, as well as providing comprehensive care for the elderly.
The number of requests having increased due to the financial and health crisis caused by Covid-19, close to 1,000 people have benefitted from their assistance. Of these 330 were in a situation of extreme vulnerability: 721 received primary need assistance for food, clothing, educational materials and health products, and more than 200 elderly people have had assistance thanks to the Mojácar Local Assembly Red Cross.
