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Spain to deploy troops after five African migrants die

By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press

MELILLA, Spain -- Hundreds of African migrants charged a razor-wire border fence at a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco before dawn Thursday, and five people were killed and 50 injured, prompting Spain to send troops to secure the frontier, officials said.

Two Africans had died on Spanish soil and three in Morocco, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said at a news conference during a meeting with Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou in the southern Spanish city of Seville.

Defense Minister Jose Bono said 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 Interior Ministry office in Ceuta said one of the victims had gotten caught on the razor-wire fence as he tried to climb over. Another was said to have died after being crushed by the crowd.

The pre-dawn charge was the latest in a series of attempts this week by crowds to rush border crossings at the Spanish enclaves. A few hundred have managed to make it across, authorities said.

Every year, thousands of people also cross from Morocco to Spain's mainland packed into small boats, trying to escape poverty in northern or sub-Saharan Africa. Many drown in the attempt, while those caught usually are deported.

A Ceuta Interior Ministry official said guards were taken by surprise.

"We didn't think this would happen," the official, Jeronimo Nieto, told Spanish National Radio. "We had the security forces at the perimeter on the alert for something like this. ... A group that big, organized and coordinated and the sudden way it happened last night was something fairly new to us."

He said that he had talked with Interior Minister Jose Alonso about the need to make the fence taller and deploy more police in the area.

On Wednesday, 40 Africans were injured in a mass attempt to charge a fence surrounding Melilla with makeshift ladders. Several hundred managed to get through to Spanish territory, authorities said. Another group of some 500 did the same on Tuesday.

On Thursday, hundreds of the detained African immigrants braved stifling heat in a makeshift holding center in Melilla within view of stretches of the two-rowed, 10-foot barbed-wire fence.

Wearing dirty jeans and worn-out flip-flops or ill-fitting sneakers, some described their ordeal of using makeshift ladders of tree branches to climb over at night.

"To climb in the night and jump down is not easy, " said Felix Akah, a 33-year-old electrician from Cameroon.

Akah said he left home nine months ago after deciding he couldn't make a living in Africa. He lived in the forest in Morocco for more than three months and said he can't remember how many times he's gotten caught trying to cross.

"I cannot even count them," he said.

Akah said there were still up to 400 Africans living in the forest in the area he left in Morocco.

Eric Aborah, 17, said he left his native Ghana 2 1/2 years ago on an odyssey through a half-dozen countries in Africa before making it to Morocco, where he spent eight months in the forest before crossing into Melilla on Tuesday.

"It is not easy to climb, and you only have to give everything to God and jump," said Aborah, who cried as he explained he had no relatives in Spain and that both his parents were dead.

He said he had heard a group was going to rush the border and thought it would be safer in large numbers.

The immigrant camp is estimated to hold more than 1,000 people, more than twice its capacity. Virtually all are young black men from countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon Mali and Ghana.

Spain recently said it would double the height of the Melilla fence to 20 feet along the six-mile border with Morocco. The work is expected to be completed by early 2006. It is Europe's only border with Africa.



Spanish enclave of Melilla, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005. The government deployed troops on Thursday after waves of African immigrants climbed over the fences at the border. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)


A Spanish soldier stands guard at the Rostrogordo area of the border between Spain and Morocco in Spanish enclave of Melilla, Thursday, Sept.r 29, 2005.(AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)


African immigrants wait in line for food at a holding facility in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005. Spain ordered troops to its two enclaves in northern Morocco Thursday after five Africans died and about 50 others were injured when hundreds of migrants charged a razor-wire fence in an attempt to cross into one of the enclaves, officials said. (AP Photo/Jasper Juinen)

Its because George Bush hates black people.

A razor wire fence and the army to guard a border?  What does any country need that for?

The Spanish kids I went to school with were total fascists, loved Franco, hated the PM of the time. Gonzales?  I think his name was Gonzales.

They utterly hated Mexicans an morroccans, dont get them started.  They were hardcore, I am sure ther are a lot more of them running around Espana.

A 22bad BTT

I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter.

Quoted: A 22bad BTT

Why are those racist Spaniards keeping those poor black people that are just looking for a better
life out of their country?  Thats not very "open border" "neighbors and partners" of them

Thanks for sharing.

Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter.

"Every year, thousands of people also cross from Morocco to Spain's mainland packed into small boats, trying to escape poverty in northern or sub-Saharan Africa. Many drown in the attempt, while those caught usually are deported."

Quoted: Its because George Bush hates black people.

The Africans only want the jobs black people in Spain will not do.

Quoted: The Africans only want the jobs black people in Spain will not do.

Quoted: Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter. "Every year, thousands of people also cross from Morocco to Spain's mainland packed into small boats, trying to escape poverty in northern or sub-Saharan Africa. Many drown in the attempt, while those caught usually are deported."

Somehow sounds familiar.  And we're scared to do like the Spanish because

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter. "Every year, thousands of people also cross from Morocco to Spain's mainland packed into small boats, trying to escape poverty in northern or sub-Saharan Africa. Many drown in the attempt, while those caught usually are deported." Somehow sounds familiar.  And we're scared to do like the Spanish because

I have heard from several people that the fear of being labeled a racist causes things like that

Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter.

Melilla and Ceuta are in North Africa.

A LOT of people in Spain regard people in Central and South America as
backward indian scum.
Not all, but a lot.
I can easily imagine they apply this form of thinking to people from Africa as well.

Quoted: Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter. Melilla and Ceuta are in North Africa.

I learned it today too.

BBC's website had a little history on it the other day.  If I find it, I'll post a link here.

ETA: Link to BBC website with info on Ceuta and Melilla

Quoted: Quoted: I gotta break out my globe, last i saw Spain and Morrocco were seperated by the straight of Gibralter. Melilla and Ceuta are in North Africa.

Map to illustrate the location of the enclave:

http://encarta.msn.com/map_701511612/Ceuta.html

Quoted: A LOT of people in Spain regard people in Central and South America as backward indian scum. Not all, but a lot. I can easily imagine they apply this form of thinking to people from Africa as well.

But, regardless of the countries relative wealth, education, crime or "social status"(or race)
it is INSANE to leave border security to chance(like we do, instead of deploying our Military)
people entering legally are subjected to major scrutiny to safeguard Citizens inside their borders
not just identity\criminal records but also health, food borne parasites, animal disease precautions, nuclear screening..........