The migrant aid organization Alarm Phone has alerted to the disappearance of 23 people traveling on board a raft heading for the Balearic Islands.

The Spanish Maritime Rescue Service has deployed a search operation in the southern area of ​​Cabrera after receiving a report of a missing boat carrying 30 migrants, which disappeared three days ago. The alert was issued by the NGO Alarm Phone, which assists migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, through a message posted on its social media account. According to the organization, the boat departed from the coast of Boumerdès last Saturday with 30 people on board. Sources from the Maritime Rescue Service confirmed to Europa Press that an active search is underway in the area, involving two Frontex aircraft flying over southern Cabrera. In addition, notices to mariners are being issued asking them to report any sightings of the boat, although so far no sightings have been made. The search continues, while authorities and NGOs stress the urgency of locating the missing persons to prevent a tragedy.

The Second Section of the Provincial Court of Palma will hold a preliminary hearing this Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m., in the trial of two men accused of captaining a boat that reached the coast of Formentera last June. The prosecution is requesting a seven-year prison sentence for each of the defendants, whom it accuses of a crime against the rights of foreign citizens. According to the indictment, the boat set sail in the early hours of June 19 from the coast of Tipassa, Algeria, and arrived in Formentera around 4:00 p.m. the following day. There were 16 people on board, two of them minors, who allegedly paid between 6,000 and 8,000 euros for the journey. The prosecutor argues that the lives of the occupants were seriously endangered during the crossing, as the boat did not meet the minimum maritime safety requirements and lacked any lifesaving equipment. During the journey, one of the defendants was in charge of operating the engine with the aid of a GPS device, while the other was responsible for refueling from the fifteen 30-liter jerrycans of gasoline they carried on board. Furthermore, the prosecution emphasizes that neither of the defendants possessed the knowledge or training necessary to navigate this type of vessel.

A cruise ship rescued 19 people on Sunday from a small boat 20 miles off Cabrera and transported them to the port of Barcelona.

His name is Aliou. In 2021, he arrived in the Canary Islands on a small boat. Twenty-two days later, he was arrested, as he was considered the captain of the vessel, although he denies it. After being transferred to Palma prison, he was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant. Along the way, he learned Spanish—he speaks it with a slight Canarian accent—and earned a kitchen assistant qualification. Since he's already been granted the third degree of imprisonment, he works in a restaurant. He's only 23, but thinks he's already "wasted a lot of time": "I don't know if I'll be able to get it back."

The young man who was detained as the alleged captain of a migrant boat attempted to flee from the Balearic Islands Police Headquarters in Palma, where he was being held.

The group Caminando Fronteras has reported the disappearance of another boat with 25 people on board, which left the Algerian coast last Sunday heading for the Balearic Islands.

The Government has made three vessels available to Maritime Rescue that will join the search operation for the three migrants who were traveling on the sunken boat Wednesday in southern Mallorca, who disappeared during the crossing. This Thursday afternoon, the General Directorate of Emergencies and the Interior held a technical meeting at the 112 Emergency Coordination Center to support the coordination of the search operation led by Maritime Rescue in collaboration with the Civil Guard, as requested.

Adel and Alilou left Algeria on two small boats in 2020 and 2022. There was no trace of the first boat or its passengers; the second boat was rescued without two people. Years later, their families still cling to the hope that they are still alive: no one can prove them wrong. This is the silence faced by the loved ones of thousands of migrants who have disappeared after taking to the sea in an attempt to reach Europe, as EFE was able to verify when speaking with Adel and Alilou's siblings.