An update has been received on what may have occurred to the vessel that left Antigua last month and capsized with West Africans and Antiguans on board, resulting in the death of three people, some of whom were saved and others who are still missing.
According to a statement on Cabinet notes from the Office of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, a small fishing boat that illegally left Antigua with 32 passengers and capsized near St Kitts drifted into Puerto Rico’s waters with one body on board.
It has been reported that a group of roughly 15 West Africans who are currently in Guadeloupe would be dealt with by those authorities. The two Antiguans and two West Africans who were rescued by the St Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard 10 days ago are still in that country’s custody, according to reports.
On March 27, 2023, thirty West Africans and two Antiguans boarded a fishing boat bound for the US Virgin Islands near Urlings, Antigua.
The boat capsized after being hit by heavy waves a few hours into the cruise.
Fourteen Cameroonians and two Antiguans were rescued from the sea, while 13 people went lost.
Furthermore, Cabinet discussed the West Africans who had been present in Antigua since late December 2022.
The UNHCR and the IOM have completed a preliminary report, which will be reviewed by the national agencies involved in the resettling process.
Antigua Airways charter planes had taken over 900 West Africans from Nigeria and dropped them off in the Caribbean in desperate circumstances.
Around 637 of the almost 900 Africans who arrived in Antigua as tourists from Nigeria between November and January are still on the island.