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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Spain’s borders strengthened after African refugees storm European frontier AFRICAN refugees have been tramping north and hammering on the doors of Europe for years, desperate to flee poverty, war and oppression to reach the promised land of plenty and freedom. But last week’s bloody border raids on Spain’s tiny Moroccan possessions of Ceuta and Melilla showed that today’s would-be immigrants are more resolute, more organised and more numerous than ever before. On Thursday, five were killed trying to force their way through Africa’s only land route to Europe. Eight died in total in September. Survivors tell of death-defying odysseys across Africa, with many risking drowning in packed, rickety launches that wash up on Spanish beaches two or three times a week. Last week, thousands of strong, young men at the razor-wire frontiers of these half- forgotten Spanish possessions launched their most spec tacular raid yet upon fortress Europe. Up to 600 Africans stormed Ceuta’s barbed perimeter using primitive ladders improvised from branches lashed together with belts. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, similar human avalanches assailed Melilla to the east. Scores were injured, hundreds got through, and thousands remained to try again. The authorities were overwhelmed. “A group that big, and so organised and co-ordinated, and the sudden way it happened, was new to us,” said Jeronomo Nieto, Madrid’s senior representative in Ceuta. Nieto blamed “the catastrophic economic, social and human condition of the sub-Saharan countries … Many youngsters will try to get away and reach Europe by any means they can.” Survivors suffered terrible lacerations from coiled blades on the perimeter, and torn clothing was left hanging on the high wire. Ceuti officials had to wash away blood that soaked the narrow no man’s land between the twin barriers. Osmauro Muri, a Francophone sub-Saharan African, was among those who made it. “I could only think of running, so I did, without looking back or at anybody. I heard many shots,” he said of his pre-dawn assault upon Europe. Muri climbed the 12ft fence with his gloved hands. “As I fell, a blade cut my leg, but I was lucky.” Boubacar Baldé, 24, who scaled the fence to reach Melilla last Wednesday, left the tiny nation of Guinea Bissau in March 2004. Crossing half of Africa, he journeyed through Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Algeria. He travelled in 4x4s carrying up to 30 people, then walked from Algeria to Morocco, then on to Mariguari, near Melilla. It took him two months and six attempts to make the 160km hike, as he was detained by Moroccan police and taken to Oujda on the Algerian border. Baldé has a simple, modest dream common to immigrants down the centuries. “In my country I earned no money and couldn’t get a decent job. If I get to Europe, I can earn money for my parents, who don’t work, so they can buy a nice house and a little car.” The organisation of these mass assaults is arranged in the makeshift encampments where refugees are grouped by nationality, Baldé explained. People assemble at night some 20 metres from the frontier, and if no guard is visible, they vault the double barrier. “I did it in four minutes,” he said. Ceuta and Melilla have been Spanish since the 1490s, the final trench in the mediaeval Iberian stand-off between Moors and Christians. After expelling the Moors, Spain’s last conquistadors seized north Africa’s rocky outcrops, built fortresses and set boundaries at the range of a cannon-shot, so that Catholic Spain would never again face invasion from the south. Last week’s invasion, driven by desire for survival not conquest, reveals a gaping hole in the EU’s policy on immigration. Franco Frattini, the EU commissioner for security, freedom and justice, said: “This terrible tragedy is another demonstration of the urgent need to intensify our joint efforts to manage immigration more effectively.” Spain is now raising the fence in Ceuta and Melilla to 20ft – higher than the Berlin Wall. Madrid has deployed nearly 500 troops to guard the borders of the two territories. High-tech infra-red cameras, sound detectors and sensor pads will be the next “keep out” devices to be installed. 02 October 2005 Poster Comment: Quite a bit of difference in how Spain views illegals ..
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