Migrant baby girl born on boat off Canary Islands

A baby girl was born on a migrant dinghy en route to the Canary Islands this week, Spain’s rescue service said on Wednesday. The service published a photograph of the newborn, its mother and dozens of other migrants on the crowded boat, Reuters has reported.

The vessel was first spotted off the island of Lanzarote on 6 January, as Spain celebrated the Epiphany holiday, when local children traditionally receive presents from the Three Kings. When the coastguard ship arrived, it found the mother and baby both in good health. A total of 60 people were on board, including 14 women and four children.

📷A baby boy was born on a migrant dinghy en route to the Canary Islands this week, Spain’s rescue service said on Wednesday, publishing a photo of the newborn, its mother and dozens of other migrants on the crowded boat. Both the mother and baby were found to be in good health. pic.twitter.com/VbEp6175vW

— InfoMigrants (@InfoMigrants) January 9, 2025

Domingo Trujillo, the captain of the rescue vessel, told broadcaster TVE that they knew there was a pregnant woman on board. “The surprise was [that we found] a totally naked baby who was born 10, 15 or 20 minutes earlier,” he said. “I covered her up, took her here [to my chest] and patted her so that she would stop crying.”

Medics onboard recommended that the mother and baby should be transferred to a hospital by helicopter.

Alvaro Serrano Perez, commander of the helicopter, told Reuters: “Being Three Kings Day this was the best gift we could have received.”

The seven Spanish islands off the north-west African Atlantic coast are struggling to absorb a surge in irregular migrants, mainly from Mali, Senegal and Morocco. The archipelago hit an all-time annual high for a second year in a row with 46,843 arrivals in 2024, constituting 73 per cent of the illegal migration to Spain, according to the latest data from the Interior Ministry.

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