Ninety-two Ecuadorian illegal immigrants returned to their home country Thursday, two days after being rescued on the high seas, some 344 km west of Costa Rica, by the U.S. coastguard, Ecuador's Navy reported.
Ecuador's Navy Department said in a bulletin that the U.S. coastguard rescued the immigrants who were aboard a dilapidated boat without licenses or flags.
A U.S. airplane first spotted the boat named "Paco" and reported it to the coastguard before a rescue operation was launched.
The number of Ecuadorian immigrants has increased following the1998-1999 financial crisis, which was considered the worst one in the history of the South American country.
The Ecuadorian government estimated that some 2 million Ecuadorians live overseas -- most of them in the United States, Spain and Italy -- while reports from other sources put the figure at about 3 million.
Source:Xinhua
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