Every year, thousands of illegal immigrants arrive in Spain, mainly from African countries, as well as from Eastern Europe and Latin America. In particular, in 2006 alone, more than 30,000 Africans arrived in the Canary Islands, most of whom could not be deported due to the lack at the time of agreements between Spain and African countries on the repatriation of illegals.
As a rule, illegal immigrants who reach Spain by sea from Morocco and Algeria are deported to their homeland within a few weeks. The exception is unaccompanied minor immigrants, who are sent by the Spanish to special reception centers because local law prohibits repatriating persons under the age of 18.
The NPI representative explained that many illegals who do not want to return home try to injure themselves on the plane in order to stay for treatment in Spain. "In June, Nigerian citizen Osamuya Aikpitangi, despite all the efforts of the escort, inflicted injuries on himself on the plane from which he died," the RIA Novosti interlocutor cited as an example.
In accordance with the new rules, the police officer explained, law enforcement officers will not be able to give sedatives to violently resisting foreigners as was done before. However, a doctor will examine immigrants before deportation. Illegals will still be handcuffed, which can be removed at the discretion of the escort.
"The rules stipulate that a foreigner deported on a regular commercial flight is accompanied by two police officers from the NPI Repatriation Department. If it is a special flight chartered specifically for deporting immigrants, each immigrant is accompanied by one police officer, and special forces officers are present in the cabin in case of mass unrest," the agency's interlocutor said. He added that since the beginning of the year, about 9,000 illegal immigrants have been deported from Spain by court order.
However, the number of officially residing immigrants in Spain is increasing. According to a report published at the end of July by the state Spanish Institute of Statistics, their number is 2.03 million people, approximately 7.89% more than was recorded in July 2006. Of these, 659,450 are citizens of EU countries and 1.375 million came from other countries. The report says that in 2010, every fourth child (last year – every sixth) in Spain will be born into an immigrant family.
Based on materials from RIA Novosti.