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ISSUE NO. 1732
13 - 19 September 2018
Newspaper in Spain 2017 & 2018
A XARQUĂ?A - C OSTA T ROPICAL YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
Immigration crisis as Motril overwhelmed THE number of migrants landing on the Granada coastline principally at Motril - has risen 40 per cent with 5,301 registered so far this year. It is a stark reminder of the growing humanitarian crisis that has seen hundreds of drownings as people make the perilous sea crossing from Africa to Europe. In 2014 Motril saw just 501 immigrants land, a figure that is now reached in just two weeks. In 2015 that number rose to 901 before the figures started climbing at an even more rapid rate. The huge increase in numbers has come at a cost to Motril and the province of Granada. Until this summer there had been hardly any expansion of the services dedicated to the reception and processing of immigrants, leading to the immigration service being almost paralysed through overwork and a lack of facilities. The Temporary Foreigners Reception Centre (CATE) in Motril was overwhelmed - it had space for just 80 people. Immigrants had to be transferred to the National Police Headquarters in Granada. But a lack of space there meant immigrants were released after just 72 hours in reception centres. Many ended up congregating in the city’s bus station. In order to avoid situations such as this, Motril has used municipal sports halls on several occasions, given the obvious lack of space. Recently a tented camp has been set up by the military to act as an enlarged reception centre in Motril with capacity for 250 people. In addition to the problem of
NON STOP: Maritime Rescue has been kept busy. lack of space, the shortage of police officers had to be added. To deal with this, more than 20 officers reinforced the National Police of Motril. It has been announced that these extra officers will remain in Motril until October 16. But according to police trade unions it is too little. They are calling for 100 extra officers to
be drafted in to deal with immigration. During the past few days, the arrival of more than 300 immigrants to the Granada coast has meant even the new facilities are insufficient. On September 3, 241 immigrants, including 50 women (two pregnant) and 10 young children, were rescued from a total of five boats.
Two days later, the blackest situation took place so far this year: Maritime rescue found two half sunk boats carrying a total of 107 immigrants, of which five were lying lifeless. According to several of the rescued migrants, another four people who were travelling with them fell into the sea and died during the crossing.