Source: Satellite image taken on February 4 by Planet Labs
The New York Times
In the American Naval Base of Guantanamo, about 150 tents have been installed to accommodate detained migrants and reinforce detention operations, according to satellite images taken on the area on Tuesday and Wednesday. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has ordered his government to prepare to house up to 30,000 migrants at the base.
Most likely, most migrants sent to the area are housed on the western side of the bay, about 11 kilometers from prison for terrorism suspects, as they show images and documents analyzed by The New York Times.
But on Wednesday, the government said that the first 10 detained migrants who were transferred by plane to Guantanamo were held in the penitentiary complex, which is shown below in an image of 2021. It was not clear how many more people could be hosted there in the future .
Source: Satellite image taken in September 2021 by Airbus Cnes through Google Earth
The New York Times
In the west, the construction was visible in satellite images captured this week around the current operations center for migrants, where the United States has long retains migrants stopped at sea. The area could be designed to house up to 13,000 migrants and 5000 members of the emergency personnel, according to a 2016 budget proposal to carry out improvements in the place.
Source: Satellite image taken on February 4 by Planet Labs
The New York Times
Recent satellite images have also captured the speed of the current increase in activity and capacity. The operations to clear the area began in the second part of January. On January 30, the USS St. Louis Navy ship arrived, with soldiers to help prepare the campaign store camp.
The next day, an image showed that more than two dozens of green military campaign had been installed to support detention operations. On Wednesday, that number had increased to more than 80. At that time, about 70 tents for migrants were also visible.
Source: Satellite image taken on February 4 by Planet Labs
The New York Times
The Pentagon shared several images of the installation of tents in the place.
The Times obtained another 2017 document in which the design plans for the expansion of migrant hosting in the place were shown, with a map and details about the capacity and assembly. Those planes showed space for about 11,000 migrants.
The positions of the campaign stores seen in this week’s satellite images seem to follow those design plans. You can also see the support infrastructure, labeled in the plans such as dining rooms and headquarters of the camp, in preparation on cement platforms that were built in 2019.
Plans to expand migrants accommodation in Guantanamo
The following diagram shows the plans that were presented to the Pentagon in 2017 for a “massive migration complex” on the Sotavento side of the Naval Station.
The first new tents to accommodate migrants have been installed in areas L1 and L6, described in the plans, and could house more than 2000 people if they were full. Activities have also been seen to clear and other types in the marked area such as L5.
Only 37 people were held at the Migrant Operations Center from 2020 to 2023. In February 2024, there were four migrants held there, according to the Department of National Security. The government has not previously transferred to migrants from the United States to the place.
(Tagstotranslate) Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Cuba)
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