Kritiek Amnesty op Spaanse opvang van Afrikaanse asielzoekers in Ceuta en Melilla (en)

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has criticised Spain for returning immigrants to Africa.

"It would be a fatal decision that Spain opts out of obligations to the Geneva Convention on protection of refugees", said Wolfgang Grenz of Amnesty International, according to German daily Berliner Zeitung.

Over the past week, thousands of Sub-Saharan immigrants have stormed the fences surrounding the Spanish enclaves Mellilla and Ceuta in Morocco in the hope of making it into Europe.

Spain and Morocco have now agreed that all immigrants caught crossing the fences separating the two countries would be returned, leaving it to Morocco to solve the problem.

The Spanish government announced earlier that it also plans to heighten the fences to over six metres, from its current three metres.

Spain and Italy should not be left alone with the problems of illegal immigration, said Mr Grenz adding that the EU attitude to the problem was "very ambiguous".

On the one hand, access to the European continent is becoming more and more restricted while on the other hand, immigrants are sought as cheap labour, he pointed out.

Spanish radio reported that another six Africans died yesterday (6 October) in new stampedes and clashes with the Moroccan police on the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave Melilla.

Melilla is often referred to as the EU's most southern town.

For immigrants who manage to enter the EU territory, entirely encircled by Morocco, chances of being transferred to the European continent used to be good.