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Soldiers to patrol enclaves
29/09/2005 21:55 - (SA)
Ciaran Giles
Madrid - Spain on Thursday ordered troops to help police maintain border security in its two enclaves in northern Morocco after five Africans died and about 50 others were injured when hundreds of migrants charged a fence in an attempt to cross into one of the enclaves.
Defence minister Jose Bono said in parliament that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered him to deploy soldiers to help the Civil Guard patrolling the fences that separate the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco.
"The president of the government has given me the order that as of today the Civil Guard should be reinforced by the army to tackle this problem, and this will be done," Bono said.
The order came after officials confirmed two Africans died when hundreds of people stormed the fence in Ceuta before dawn. Spanish National Radio reported later that at least two others died on the Moroccan side of the fence, citing the Civil Guard in Ceuta.
A rush to cross the border
The interior ministry office in Ceuta said one of the victims got caught on the tall fence as he tried to climb over. Another was said to have died after being trampled by the crowd.
It was the latest in a series of attempts this week by hundreds-strong crowds to rush border crossings at the Spanish enclaves. A few hundred have managed to make it across, authorities have said.
Every year, thousands of people also cross from Morocco to Spain's mainland packed into small boats in a bid to enter undetected. Many drown in the attempt. Those caught are mostly deported.
The ministry's top official in Ceuta said authorities were taken by surprise by the latest charge.
"We didn't think this would happen," said Jeronimo Nieto. "We had the security forces at the perimeter on the alert for something like this. A group that big, organised and co-ordinated and the sudden way it happened last night was something fairly new to us."
Talks to heighten fence
He said he had discussed with interior minister Jose Alonso the need to heighten the fence and deploy more police in the area.
On Wednesday, 40 Africans were injured in a mass attempt to charge a fence surrounding Melilla by climbing over with makeshift ladders. Several hundred managed to get through to Spanish territory, authorities said. A day earlier another group of some 500 did the same.
Spain recently announced it would double the height of the Melilla fence to 6m along the 10km border with Morocco. The work is expected to be completed by early 2006.
The fence was built in the late 1990s to keep out illegal immigrants, many of whom are trying to escape poverty in northern or sub-Saharan Africa and find work in Europe.
Ministers from Spain and Morocco were to meet Thursday in the Spanish city of Cordoba to discuss bilateral issues, including immigration.
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