Probe into border unrest

2005-09-30 09:37

Ceuta - Spain has promised an inquiry and extra border troops after five people died during a violent melee by hundreds of immigrants trying to storm into a Spanish enclave in Morocco.

Officials on both sides clashed over who opened fire following Thursday's unrest. Two would-be immigrants were killed in Spain's Ceuta enclave while three lost their lives on Moroccan territory, said Spain's deputy prime minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.

The European Commission lamented on Thursday the "tragic" deadly unrest on the Spain-Morocco border, but said it underlines the need for the European Union (EU) to strengthen legal immigration channels.

Ongoing violence, climbing death toll

The overnight deaths were only the latest violence. Earlier this week about 1 000 would-be immigrants launched separate assaults on the border-crossing at Melilla, another Spanish enclave.

The latest fatalities added to the death toll at border-crossings between Morocco and Spain's two enclaves in the region - Ceuta and Melilla - which are seen as an access point to Europe for the mainly sub-Saharan Africans who are gathered in camps around the Spanish territories.

Previous attempts to scale the fortified fences with makeshift wooden ladders have led to deadly clashes between the would-be immigrants and Spanish and Moroccan border guards.

In the latest incident, 165 illegal immigrants succeeded in entering Ceuta, said regional government deputy Roberto Franca. He said 500 to 600 people had taken part in the mass assault and 17 needed hospital treatment afterwards.

He announced that 250 extra troops were being deployed along Ceuta's border with Morocco.

Inquiry under way

Some of those who attempted to scale the fence accused Spanish authorities of deploying heavy-handed tactics, amid reports that some of the victims had died after being hit by rubber bullets.

De la Vega said an inquiry was underway.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, coincidentally holding talks with his Moroccan counterpart Driss Jettou in Seville, said it would be premature to second-guess the investigation, which Jettou said would be open.

A source close to the Spanish government said the bullets which killed the two men on the Ceuta side were not of a kind used by Spanish forces.

A provisional toll in Ceuta spoke of two deaths on either side, with Rabat not immediately confirming a third death on its side.

Non-governmental organisations SOS-racism and Doctors Without Borders spoke of a baby from Ivory Coast having died on the Moroccan side.

Ceuta and Melilla are seen by immigrants, notably from sub-Saharan Africa, as a gateway to Spain, and hence the rest of Europe. Some 12 000 have already converged on the enclaves this year.

- AFP