It seems the whole world is rising up and has had enough.

This sounds a little to familiar in a scary sort of way.

Currently, almost all Africans arriving illegally in the Canaries refuse to reveal their nationality in order to avoid repatriation. They are then flown to mainland Spain after a few weeks where they are released after being given a piece of paper requesting they leave the country.



http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2...ent_683356.htm

Spanish PM slams illegal migration
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-07 09:13

MADRID - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Wednesday vowed to clamp down on "cheating" illegal immigrants after another wave of Africans landed on Spanish shores.


Some of 67 would-be immigrants that were intercepted at sea are seen before coming ashore in the port of Los Cristianos on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Monday, Sept. 4, 2006. Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told other countries on Monday that it will not tolerate failures to enforce international migration control agreements and said it was willing to take firm action on the issue, after a flood of immigrants, 1,965 since Sept 1, 2006, arrived into the Canary Islands. [AP]

Almost 1,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in Spain's Canary Islands in just over a day, prompting the regional president to say Spain was facing its worst humanitarian crisis for decades.

"Spain does not accept, nor will it accept, clandestine or illegal immigration," Zapatero told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

"This is simply because it's not immigration, it's cheating legal migrants, working people and the normal rules of co-existence."

The record rate of arrivals, compared with 4,751 in all of 2005, came as Spain's government said it would seek to make a joint proposal on immigration with France and Italy at the next European Union summit in Finland on October 20.

A poll by Cadena Ser showed that 89 percent of Spaniards thought too many immigrants were arriving, after months in which footage of exhausted Africans in overcrowded wooden boats have dominated daily news bulletins.

"This is Spain's worst humanitarian crisis since the Civil War," said Adan Martin, president of the Canaries' regional government, referring to the bloody 1930s conflict.

A total of 930 would-be migrants, who risked their lives in a dangerous sea journey hugging the coast from West Africa, arrived in the Canaries in just over 24 hours up to Wednesday morning, the islands' emergency services said.

Spain's Socialist government has asked for European Union help to stem the flow and has warned African countries such as Senegal that it is fed up with their lack of cooperation in accepting back repatriated citizens.

Spain wants the European Union to provide more aid for policing the seas and wants a European policy on marine patrols.

But the European Commission has said Spain is partly to blame for tempting poor Africans to try their luck with a mass amnesty of illegal immigrants last year.

Currently, almost all Africans arriving illegally in the Canaries refuse to reveal their nationality in order to avoid repatriation. They are then flown to mainland Spain after a few weeks where they are released after being given a piece of paper requesting they leave the country.