Nearly 6,000 immigrants died on the frontiers of Europe since 1988

[Al-khiyal]

MELILLA / RABAT - Two men were killed in the latest attempt by African migrants to storm Spain's border fence with Morocco, and at least one of them was likely shot, Spanish and Moroccan officials have said said.

The men died when up to 70 migrants rushed the 6-metre high fence at dawn on Monday local time with make-shift ladders.

Moroccan guards fired warning shots to stop them entering Spain's African enclave of Melilla, the officials said.

It was the first mass assault on Spain's African enclaves since October 2005. Then, six men were shot dead when Moroccan troops opened fire on more than 100 migrants.

One of the dead men fell onto the Spanish side of the fence while the other died on the way to a Moroccan hospital. At least eight others were seriously injured by razor wire.

"We have various hypotheses but the first we are working on is that the cause of death was a gunshot," Spanish government official Jose Fernandez Chacon said of the migrant whose body was recovered in Melilla.

Madrid has since sent more troops to its border and doubled the height of its border fence to block migrants who spend months travelling through Africa in the hope of reaching Europe.

Separately on Monday, Moroccan authorities found the bodies of 21 migrants who drowned when a boat carrying them towards Spain's Canary Islands sank off the coast of West Sahara.

Eighteen corpses were washed up shortly after dawn on Monday and three were found later, Moroccan officials said.

>>>Source<<<

[Al-khiyal]

Nearly 6,000 immigrants have died at the frontiers of Europe since 1988 as they were seeking refuge in other countries. Of these, 1,883 people alone died in the channel known as the Sicilian channel between Libya, Tunisia, Malta and Italy, according to internet blog Fortress Europe, who has a team of writers compiling a database of deaths using articles appearing on various newspapers.

The figures, which were released yesterday, show that at least 5,742 people died since 1988 along the European frontiers. Among them 1,844 were missing at sea.

The blog’s data cover not only deaths at sea but include immigrants who died while crossing deserts and mountain ranges.

The figures show that in the Mediterranean Sea, and through the Atlantic Ocean towards Spain, 4,560 immigrants died. In the Sicily channel 1,883 people died along the routes from Libya and Tunisia to Malta and Italy, including 1,099 who are still missing.

More than 1,600 people died sailing from Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria towards Spain, through the Gibraltar strait or off the Canary Islands. 358 of these are still missing.

Nearly 450 people died in the Aegean Sea, between Turkey and Greece, including 208 who are still missing and 474 people died in the Adriatic Sea, between Albania, Montenegro and Italy, including 136 who are still missing.

With regard to stowaways in the trucks or hidden in the containers loaded on the cargo vessels, 370 people were found dead in Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Spain and Hungary

In the desert, 146 persons died dehydrated while trying to cross the Sahara towards the Mediterranean Sea, from Sudan to Libya as from Western Africa to Algeria through Mali and Niger, Fortress Europe reported.

Eighty-eight people died along the Turkish Greek border. Moreover, 51 people drowned crossing rivers delimiting the frontier between Croatia and Bosnia, Turkey and Greece, Slovakia and Austria and Slovenia and Italy.

Thirty-four people froze to death in their tracks through the icy mountains at the border in Turkey, Greece and Slovakia, while 20 people died under the trains in The Channel tunnel trying to reach England.

Nearly 6,000 immigrants died on the frontiers of Europe since 1988

مهاجرون ميتون طوال حدود أوروبا

Fortress Europe

[Al-khiyal]

Fortress Europe December 2006 report

[Al-khiyal]

(AGI) - Rome, Jan 5 - 1,335 underage illegal immigrants arrived on Italian shores in the course of 2006: 1,264 in Sicily, 41 in Calabria, 30 in Apulia and none in Sardinia, immigration data from the Interior Ministry showed. Out of the 22,016 illegal immigrants total, 19,622 were men and 1,059 were women. 21,400 illegal immigrants arrived in Sicily (19,099 male and 1,037 female), 282 in Calabria (231 male and 10 female), 243 in Apulia (201 male and 12 female), 91 in Sardinia (all male). The largest nationality among immigrants to Sicily was Maroccan (8,146), followed by Egyptian (4,200), Eritrean (2,859), Tunisian (2,288), Ghanaian (530), Nigerian (491), Ethiopian (479), Algerian (473), Bangladeshi (361), Sudanese (352), Pakistani (183), Ivory Coast (168), Somali (121), Nigerien (98) and Lebanese (95). The 282 immigrants to Calabria came from Egypt (278), Iran (2), Afghanistan (1) and Turkey (1); the 243 immigrants to Apulia came from Bangladesh (143), Iraq (50), Afghanistan (38), Albania (9) and Sri Lanka (3); the 91 which arrived in Sardinia were from Algeria (67) and Tunisia (24). The nationalities recorded are those declared by the immigrants when they disembarked, the Interior Ministry said.

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers, 30 Jan. (AKI) - The Algerian government has launched a campaign in mosques against illegal immigration towards Europe. London-based Arabic daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday that Abdullah Tamin, spokesman for the ministry of religious affairs, had announced that Algeria's 14,000 mosques will host a campaign targeting youths to persuade them against dangerous sea trips to reach Italy, France or Spain illegaly.

The country's religious leaders have also announced they will issue a fatwa banning illegal immigration.

"We have asked imams to explain to those wishing to board unsafe boats that the paradise they are trying to reach quickly will only turn out to be a dream," the ministry spokesman was also quoted as saying.

[Al-khiyal]

The country's religious leaders have also announced they will issue a fatwa banning illegal immigration.

El-harga, un péché ?

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria and Morocco are often the final stations in the migrant's odyssey from Africa to Europe. Some get stuck in cities of the lost like "The Valley" in Algeria. The more resourceful make it to Tangier, where they face racism and the constant threat of arrest. This is the fifth installment of a multi-part series. You can read the first installments here

The Valley, Algeria

A No Man's Land between Morocco and Europe