Mauritania picks up 65 illegal immigrants heading for Spain: police

The Mauritanian coast guard has picked up 65 illegal immigrants from Mali and Senegal who were trying to reach Spain in small boats, police said Thursday.

The coast guard picked up the two groups on the open sea close to Nouadhibou in northwestern Mauritania when they were pushed back to the Mauritanian coast after both boats had engine trouble.

The Mauritanian press agency AIM reported that one boat carried 38 Senegalese would-be immigrants who had left the northern city of M'Bour six days ago while the other boat had 27 Malians on board who had set off from Mauritania a week ago.

Police said the immigrants were in good health and had been taken to an immigrant centre in Nouadhibou while awaiting the repatriation to their home countries.
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