Spanish News Today
An immigrant claims he was handed back to Morocco by the Melilla border guards.
The Guardia Civil in Melilla has been accused by an immigrant of perverting the course of justice after officers allegedly handed him straight back to the Moroccan authorities without observing the proper procedures.
32-year-old Renaud Nyame, a sub-Saharan immigrant, presented his accusations on Monday in relation to the events of 1st May 2014, when after an assault on the Melilla border fence he claims that he was not properly identified on the Spanish side of the fence and was not given the option of requesting asylum. Instead, he says he was detained by Guardia Civil officers and forcibly handed straight back to the authorities on the Moroccan side of the frontier.
As well as being denied the opportunity to request asylum, he also maintains that he was neither informed of his rights nor given medical treatment for the injuries he had sustained while clambering over the fence. Backing up his case is video footage of an individual, supposedly Renaud Nyame, being handed back to Morocco by a Guardia Civil officer.
Eventually Nyame managed to get into Melilla on 28th May last year, and is now being held at the temporary immigrant reception centre in Barcelona where he is awaiting deportation, although his partner is requesting that he be released from the centre.
Meanwhile, the assaults on the Spanish frontier in the north African enclave of Melilla continue, and on Monday another unsuccessful attempt was mounted by around 300 sub-Saharans. Their attack was thwarted by security forces on both sides of the border as a Guardia Civil helicopter patrolled the area for most of the morning, and in the end none of the would-be immigrants made it as far as the fence.
The last successful illegal immigrants in Melilla were five people who crossed the fence on 11th March at the same time as 70 more individuals failed to make it into Spain before being detained or turned back.
On Monday the Interior Minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz paid an official visit to Melilla in order to officially inaugurate the new Oficina de Protección Internacional, an International Protection Office located at the border post of Beni-Enzar.
There is also a similar office In Ceuta, both facilities undertaking the formal identification of immigrants who could be potential applicants for international protection, providing both legal and interpretation services for those who have climbed over the border fences or swum into Ceuta and entered Spanish territory illegally.
The Minister also announced that additional police support would be sent to Melilla, with 50 additional Guardia Civíl posts being allocated to Melilla. Applications for the positions would open in May and the additional officers take up their posts in June.
Image: The Spanish Interior Minister inaugurating the new International Protection Office in Melilla on Monday
