Spain: Two Weeks After the Massive Border Assault at Melilla

Two weeks ago, we reported on the latest mass border assault by illegal migrants at the Spanish border fence at Melilla. The final figures over two days amounted to some 4,000 attempts with some 800 successfully crossing the fence, landing on Spanish soil, and thus, having to be accepted into the local migrant reception center.

So what has happened to these 800 people who crossed the border illegally injuring several border guards in the process? Those border guards are now busy processing 800+ asylum requests.

The below article from today’s Gaceta de la Iberosfera is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://gaceta.es/actualidad/asilo-expres-en-melilla-el-gobierno-ejecuta-mas-de-800-solicitudes-desde-el-asalto-masivo-a-la-valla-20220315-0800/

Asylum Express in Melilla: The government processes more than 800 requests since the massive assault at the fence

Caption beneath photo:  Immigrants with hooks assault the fence at Melilla. Twitter

The recent violent assaults at the Melilla border fence, which occurred at the beginning of March, not only turned the forces and security agencies of the State (FCSE) on their heads; once on Spanish territory, dozens of agents have had to process the more than 800 asylum requests ordered by the current  Executive (branch).

“They have not even respected the quarantine,” point out the agents to La Gaceta de la Iberosfera. The Temporary Stay Centers (CETI) are overwhelmed: With a capacity of 782 spaces, according to a report on the health situation of the center published in the Official Bulletin of the Autonomous City of Melilla (BOME) on 25 August 2020, the occupancy of the Melilla CETI has passed 900 illegal immigrants. This circumstance has motivated the current Executive (branch) to decide to have the agents carry out an “asylum express”.

The Ministry of the Interior could have opted for the “hot return” endorsed by the Constitutional Tribune, as it already did after the invasion of Ceuta in May of last year, but on this occasion, the Executive (branch) has decided to change the so-called “hot returns” for an “asylum express”, a measure that is intended to leave the Melilla CETI free of occupancy.

The majority of the illegal immigrants who assaulted the Spanish border-armed with hooks and clubs- come from Sudan, followed by Malians and other origins, such as Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Chad, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Libya, according to sources of FCSE. The fact that most of them are of Sudanese origin confirms that a change of the migratory flows has occurred: The immigrants who principally ended up in Libya in order to get to Europe across the central Mediterranean are now opting for the Autonomous City of Melilla, given the laxness of the current government in migrant matters.

The inaction of the Interior Ministry is causing the mafias that operate in the entire Maghreb (N Africa) to decide to mobilize more and more immigrants with the aim of establishing Spain as one of the principal avenues of entry into Europe. That is what the latest figures from the High Commissioner of the United Nations show for the refugees (ACNUR) who, at the statistical level, place our country as the objective of more than 50% of all illegal immigration arriving on European territory. More than the 5,889 illegal immigrants who entered Italy and even more than the 1,037 entries recorded in Greece. Spain has received about 56% of all illegal immigrants who arrived in Europe.

Furthermore, the FCSE agents stationed in Melilla also warn that the government decision can lead to an effective encouragement since, far from acting as a wall against illegal immigration, a message is being sent which is being understood by the thousands of sub-Saharans who are waiting on the other side of the border that, once in Spain, they will be accepted instead of being sent back to Morocco. “In less than one month, there will be spaces free, and they will know this on the other side since they are in communication at all times,” police sources conclude.