The Colombian Navy announced that it has carried out a rescue operation in the south of San Andrés Island, managing to find migrants moving on a boat in an illegal situation.

There were a total of 31 migrants, including thirteen Ecuadorians, nine Venezuelans, eight Azerbaijanis and one Chilean. Six were minors.

A total of 425 migrants have been rescued so far this year, the majority in that archipelago.

The coast guard units of the Colombian Navy, in collaboration with the Caribbean Air Group, identified the ship destined for Central America without complying with any security measures.

“The operation began after the Integrated Maritime Traffic Control System of the General Maritime Directorate detected the Colombian registered motor vessel “SKIN” moving suspiciously towards the south of the island; “A Quick Reaction Unit – URR from the Coast Guard Station of San Andrés and Providencia was immediately dispatched to the area to carry out the verification,” it was explained.

The ship was driven to the main Coast Guard dock in San Andrés. The migrants are at the disposal of Migration Colombia and the minors have been handed over to members of the Family Police Station.

The migration route through the San Andrés archipelago has been activated this year due to the large number of people crossing the Darién jungle, which separates Colombia from Panama, where more than 400,000 people already live, and the danger of the journey through this dense and mountainous jungle .

For this reason, the number of people trying to reach the seven Central American countries that share coasts from the Colombian islands has increased, which has also led to an increase in migrant trafficking. (JO)