Police: 11 bodies found in Caribbean boat likely African refugees
May 28 (UPI) -- The bodies of 11 people believed to be African migrants were discovered inside a boat in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines island chain, local police confirmed.
"Several passports were recovered at the scene which appear to be from the Republic of Mali" in northwest Africa, said police Superintendent Junior Simmons.
On Monday, island police received a call around 10:45 a.m. local time to report a 45-foot vessel that washed on shore in Little Bay on the island of Canouan to the 35 island archipelago's south where civilians of African descent represent some 66% of the Caribbean island nation's population.
"The remains were in an advanced state of decomposition, and some were not fully intact," Simmons said in a video.
According to officials, the bodies were transported to the mainland island St. Vincent for further forensic analysis at Kingstown mortuary.
"This incident is deeply concerning, and we understand the public's interest in the matter," officials in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force said Tuesday in a Facebook post, adding they continue to work closely with regional and international partners to verify the vessel's origin and the identity of those onboard.
This followed a number of other similar events in recent months involving fleeing foreign refugees likely seeking refuge from war-torn torn nations in the hands of dictatorial regimes.
Two vessels sank on May 9 while transporting more than 500 refugees via south Asia from Bangladesh and Myanmar that saw only 87 survivors.
In January, 19 bodies were discovered on a boat in the nearby St. Kitts and Nevis islands which officials say likely was at sea for an extended period due to the advanced stages of bodily decomposition, with some victims also likely from west Africa's Mali more than 3,800 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.
The UN's migration agency in March reported nearly 9,000 people died on migration routes last year, which marked its deadliest year on record.
A United Nations spokesperson stated the Malian migrants probably tried to escape a "cycle of violence" and aimed for the Canary Islands, but that it was "highly unlikely" they were shooting for the Caribbean where they ended up drifting to, given the boat's small size.
"We cannot talk on behalf of those who have passed away, but our best guess is that they wanted to take the Atlantic route to get to the Canary Islands," Eujin Byun, a UN refugee agency spokesperson, told the BBC Wednesday.
Meanwhile, an investigation is underway to officially confirm the identity of all 11 bodies.
"Desperate people make desperate decisions," concluded the UN's Byun.
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