According to a SEF statement, the court, “in view of the exhaustion of the installation capacity of the SEF temporary installation centres, it was determined that the citizens be taken to the Linhó Prison, where they will await the formalities of the removal process to be initiated”.

The 21 migrants, from Morocco, were intercepted on the shores of Ilha do Farol, at 7:45pm on 21 July, after which they were held by the GNR and SEF and transferred to a sports hall in Olhão, also in the Algarve.

After disembarking, the authorities launched “the necessary procedures to verify their identities, once they arrived undocumented”, the statement continues.

During these days, the 21 men spent the night in the facilities of the area to support the population in Olhão, “having been guaranteed all basic needs”.

Tests for covid-19 were also carried out, all with negative results, concluded SEF.

The Algarve is increasingly being used by illegal migrants as a gateway to Europe, a trend that has been accentuated in recent months.

This is the fifth case of illegal landings on the Algarve coast by Moroccan migrants, within eight months.

The national director of SEF said on 22 July that the succession of landings of Moroccan migrants to the Algarve coast is “undeniable”, but considered it “premature” to speak of the existence of an illegal immigration route.

“There are still investigations that are ongoing, there are evaluations that have to be made. We still don't have enough information about this last landing to be able to say if there is a route, if there is a network”, he pointed out, after a meeting in the Câmara de Olhão.

Since December, 69 migrants from North Africa in the region have been intercepted by the authorities.