The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco (always conveniently forgotten when Spanish governments describe Gibraltar as an imperialist hang-over) are viewed as springboards by African migrants to a better life in Europe. At least seven drowned Thursday in a mass attempt to enter Ceuta. The fatalities were part of a group of some 400 migrants who attempted an illegal border crossing. The migrants divided themselves up into several groups, with many trying to storm the border fence while others ran into the sea to flee from the police. None of them made their way into the city.
Some days previous five bodies of Senegalese migrants - whose boat likely capsized - washed up on the Moroccan coast, near Melilla.
Elsewhere, Italy's navy has rescued 1,123 people from inflatable boats in the space of 24 hours. They included 47 women, four of them pregnant, and 50 children, all probably from sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Italian government, last year saw an "incessant and massive influx of migrants" with a total of 42,925 arrivals by sea, or more than three times as many as in 2012. The true number of migrants who died attempting the perilous crossing is unknown, but in October more than 400 people drowned in two shipwrecks near Lampedusa, the closest Italian territory to North Africa.
A socialist world would be one without passports and borders, without detention and deportations. It would be a world without the causes that forces people to move to different countries: war, environmental disaster and poverty. A socialist world would be able to harness technology and the world’s natural resources, to meet the needs of the population in every part of the world. Those deciding to move to other parts of the world would therefore do so out of genuine choice. Only by fighting for a socialist world is it possible to overcome the barriers of the nation state and to create a world without borders.
Some days previous five bodies of Senegalese migrants - whose boat likely capsized - washed up on the Moroccan coast, near Melilla.
Elsewhere, Italy's navy has rescued 1,123 people from inflatable boats in the space of 24 hours. They included 47 women, four of them pregnant, and 50 children, all probably from sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Italian government, last year saw an "incessant and massive influx of migrants" with a total of 42,925 arrivals by sea, or more than three times as many as in 2012. The true number of migrants who died attempting the perilous crossing is unknown, but in October more than 400 people drowned in two shipwrecks near Lampedusa, the closest Italian territory to North Africa.
A socialist world would be one without passports and borders, without detention and deportations. It would be a world without the causes that forces people to move to different countries: war, environmental disaster and poverty. A socialist world would be able to harness technology and the world’s natural resources, to meet the needs of the population in every part of the world. Those deciding to move to other parts of the world would therefore do so out of genuine choice. Only by fighting for a socialist world is it possible to overcome the barriers of the nation state and to create a world without borders.
More unsettling revelations about the deaths. Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez said border police had fired rubber bullets in an attempt to turn back the migrants while they were in the water.
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish government has also been criticized for forcing back a group of 23 people who reached the shore.
“Regardless of their location, the 23 individuals were clearly under Spanish jurisdiction once apprehended by the Spanish Civil Guard officers. The actions of the Spanish officials can be described as a push-back operation, the practice of summarily turning back a group of migrants across the border. Summary deportations of migrants or push-backs without giving them a chance to challenge their deportation is a direct breach of Spanish, EU and international obligations
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/14/350745/spain-must-come-clean-on-migrant-deaths/