Willemstad- Yesterday morning, September 14, around 2 AM the Coast Guard in Curacao received a report from the RCC that they saw on the radar an unlit vessel south of Klein Curacao that was operating at low speed (4 knots).

The Cutter Jaguar went straight to the indicated area. By 03:45 the interception of the vessel took place. There were 23 undocumented people on board, 17 of whom were men and 6 of whom were female. They had the Venezuelan nationality. The Jaguar received assistance from the Metal Shark I-03 to take the vessel to the Coastguard on Marine Base in Parera.

After the formalities of the coastguard were completed, the undocumented migrants were handed over to local police.

Authorities on Curaçao find themselves under mounting pressure to deal with Venezuelan refugees in a more humane way. The Netherlands, who has also been criticized for ‘looking the other way’ during the humanitarian crisis, considers the handling of the refugees a “local matter” and is not intending to assist.