Brazil ? A barge carrying 13 half-starved African refugees has been found drifting in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, local police said Wednesday.

The Africans spent 17 days at sea after their vessel, bound for Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, went off course. All those onboard the boat showed signs of malnutrition and dehydration.

The number of illegal migrants from Africa is on the rise in Brazil and other Latin American states. On Tuesday, illegal immigrants from 11 African states were arrested during a police raid in Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo. More than 80 of those arrested either had no documents or their visas had expired.