Spain wants to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Tunisian illegal migrants

29 Avril 2020

Tunis, Tunisia, April 29 (Infosplusgabon) - The Spanish authorities are preparing to forcibly repatriate 600 Tunisian migrants from the detention centre in the Spanish enclave Melilla, in full cooperation with the Tunisian embassy in Madrid, Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has announced.

The information was revealed on Tuesday by the president of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, Abdrrahmane Hedhili, saying it was more appropriate for the Spanish minister to apologise for holding them under duress for many months and exposing their lives to danger throughout the last period.

He deplored the fact that the Spanish authorities had ignored the recommendations of the World Health Organization, by detaining them in inhumane conditions, in overcrowded centres where preventive measures and conditions of health preservation were not respected.

The President of the Forum called on the Tunisian government to tell the full truth about the collaboration of the Tunisian diplomatic mission in Madrid with the Spanish authorities for the repatriation of these Tunisians collectively and by force, while at the same time welcoming the position of Spanish human rights organizations, which reject violations of migrants' rights.

Hundreds of Tunisian illegal migrants have been held in a centre in Melilla for more than eight months.

They had migrated to Spain from Morocco.

These migrants had, on several occasions, requested their release from the centre, which has more than 2,000 people of different nationalities with a maximum capacity of 500 individuals and in poor health conditions.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/RDF/GABON2020

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