Protests By Illegal Algerian Immigrants Prompt Remedial Action By Spanish Authorities

Spanish authorities responded to the protests by a group of illegal Algerian immigrants “Haraga” inside the migrants’ reception center in the Ceuta area in Melilla city which is fully saturated, with the Spanish Army granting tents to immigrants who are undergoing difficult living conditions, while pregnant women and some families will be deported in the course of next week but the rest of the illegal immigrants are expected to stay there for a year and a half at least.

The strident protests by the Algerian “Haraga”, the first of their kind in the City of Melilla, prompted the Spanish authorities to take some remedial action for fear of further untoward incidents in the region, as Spanish media outlets reported Sunday, that the Government will be starting as from next week the deportation of some families as well as pregnant women and vulnerable groups now in Ceuta to other zones of Spain to make them fare better.

In a limited humanitarian move, Spanish troops provided tents and bunk beds for the hapless migrants at the level of a basketball court, but without providing enough food and drinks, clothing and various services due to the large number of immigrants present in the overcrowded reception center.

As a recall, in 2014 Spain sent back to Morocco about 1,600 nationals of sub-Saharan countries, having failed to reach Europe via the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Madrid also expelled nearly a thousand Algerian illegals who were looking for a better future.

The total number of illegal immigrants arrested in 2014 in Spain was set at more than 42,000 people, all nationalities combined, according to Spanish assessment reports.

Only 7,340 of them, mostly African, were placed in the social centers known as ISIC, temporary shelters for undocumented migrants mainly through the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, according to observers.