TheCable

The Spanish police say the migrants found on the rudder of a ship that arrived in the Canary Islands from Nigeria will be deported.

A police official told Reuters that the migrants would be deported based on stowaway laws.

A stowaway is a person who travels on a ship, or in cargo that is subsequently loaded on a ship, without the consent of the ship owner.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Spanish coastguard tweeted a photograph of three stowaways shown crouching on the rudder of the Althini II, an oil and chemical ship.

The Althini II was said to have arrived in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on Monday after an 11-day voyage from Lagos, Nigeria.

Upon discovering them, the stowaways were taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration.

It is unclear if the men spent the entire journey perched on the rudder.

The police official reportedly added that it was up to the ship’s operator to take care of stowaways, provide them with temporary accommodation, and return them to their country of origin as soon as possible.

However, the migrants may be able to remain in Spain if they claim asylum, Helena Maleno, director of migration of Walking Borders, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), told Reuters.

“On several previous occasions, stowaways were able to remain in Spain with political asylum,” Maleno said.

According to Spanish data, migration by sea to the archipelago jumped 51 percent in the first five months of the year compared to the previous year.

The incident comes barely a week after the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said at least 50,000 migrants have died while journeying in search of a “better life” across the world since 2014.

The IOM report listed Africans as the highest fatalities, with more than 9,000 deaths recorded along dangerous routes like the Sahara and the Mediterranian sea.