1 000 storm Spanish enclave

2005-10-06 09:20

Melilla - About 1 000 sub-Saharan Africans attempted to storm the Spanish enclave of Melilla early on Thursday after Spain announced that it would start sending such illegals back to Morocco, radio reports said.

Police and soldiers tried to repel the would-be immigrants climbing over the border fence. It was not immediately clear whether any of the migrants got through to the Spanish outpost and whether there were injuries.

The attempt was the fifth within about a week.

The arrival of hundreds of illegals has left immigrant reception structures in Melilla overwhelmed, and the Spanish government announced on Wednesday that it would start expelling migrants crossing the Moroccan border on the basis of a 1992 agreement which had not been activated.

Morocco had refused to receive others than its own citizens, and sub-Saharans arriving in Spain were able to stay in the country. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA