Immigration - in brief (6)
01 September 2000
Spain: Arrivals increase: In the first nine months of this year 11,098 immigrants who tried to reach the Andalusian coast in dinghies were arrested. This figure is more than twice the number for 1999, when 5,492 cases were documented. The presence of women and children is ever-increasing; the youngest to arrive, on 16 October, was a 14-day old baby.
Spain: Death in Arrecife police station: On 20 May Antonio Augusto Fonseca, a Guinea-Bissau citizen, died in Arrecife police station after being arrested and taken there in the boot of a police car. Police stated that his death was caused by the ingestion of drugs and presented a forensic report which stated that it resulted from a pulmonary oedema. However in August Fonseca's sister told a judge that the death was provoked by physical abuse by the police; to back her claims, she presented the results of a second autopsy, commissioned by the family, which show that there were no traces of drug consumption and that the death resulted from a strong blow to Fonseca's neck. A witness to the arrest says that he saw the officers punching and kicking Fonseca until he lost consciousness.
Spain: GRECO programme: The government intends to select immigrants in their countries of origin according to the requirements of the Spanish labour market. This is one of the main objectives of the Global Programme for the Regulation and Coordination of Foreigners (GRECO), announced on 9 October. The same policy also involves selection on the basis of "cultural differences" in order to give priority to immigration from Latin America. This plan is especially concerned with the fight against "illegal immigration mafias".
Spain: Expulsion of immigrants in the holds of ships: Parliament heard allegations about the conditions of undocumented migrants who are deported from Spain locked in police van holding cells, and transferred into the holds of ferries linking Cadiz with Morocco. The allegation was confirmed by the captain of the Ciudad de Algeciras who refused act as captain on one journey, on 5 October, and reported that he was pressured by police to keep quiet. This kind of deportation represents a genuine threat for the life of the expelled migrants and contravenes maritime laws.