On Mondays and Thursdays I[1] go swimming very early in the morning at Baby Beach, at the very southern tip of the island. Today a Coast Guard helicopter flew over and continued to circle the area around us. My fellow athletes and I thought it was a beautiful sight and we waved. We did wonder why the helicopter kept circling in this area. That became clear a little later.
A friend of ours had gone for a walk while we were swimming and at a beach a little further away he saw an empty boat on the sand with some empty jerry cans next to it. Footsteps could be seen from the boat, inland. They were the footsteps of refugees from Venezuela.
While I swam in the water and enjoyed the sunrise, they were chased by the coast guard. We later learned that at least three had been arrested and jailed. The others must have hidden in the desolate landscape of southern Aruba. They made a crossing of 26 kilometers in the dark, in a small boat, over a rough sea. They then walked, partly in the dark, through an unknown area with all kinds of cacti and spiny forests, chased by the searchlight of the coast guard. And even before that, they left everything behind in the hope of surviving.
Now when I see a helicopter I don’t wave anymore. I then fold my hands and my heart cries.
[1] This blog was written by Hanneke.
Photo: Wikipedia.