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Gambians deported from Spain rampage at airport

31 Oct 2006 19:11:08 GMT
Source: Reuters

BANJUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A group of 144 Gambians deported from Spain went on the rampage at Banjul airport on Tuesday, smashing windows, chairs and air conditioning units in protest at being returned home.

Thousands of West Africans have landed on the Canary Islands on rickety boats this year hoping to find work in Europe. Spain has been repatriating illegal migrants detained on the islands.

"We were told about a transfer from the refugee camp to Madrid and Amsterdam, not that we would be deported home," Amadou Garra, one of the young men arriving in Banjul, told Reuters after getting off a special chartered flight.

On arriving in the Canaries, exhausted migrants are tended to by Red Cross workers in tents set up on tourist beaches. They are then taken off to detention centres to await either a flight to the mainland or -- for those from countries that have signed repatriation agreements -- back home.

Spain has returned more than 4,000 illegal migrants to neighbouring Senegal since mid-September. This has largely gone smoothly after initial fears the repatriations would spark unrest among deportees and their families.

Immigration officials in Gambia said they were expecting another flight carrying 163 Gambians soon and 103 more of their nationals had been apprehended at sea off the coast of Morocco.

A large number of the West Africans arriving in the Canaries left from Senegal or Mauritania. Joint sea and air patrols involving European and local security forces have pushed migrant departures down the Atlantic Coast to Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

Spain has launched a diplomatic offensive in West Africa, offering governments aid and co-operation in exchange for agreements to repatriate illegal job-seekers.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, in West Africa earlier this month, announced a 5 million euro ($6.2 million) aid package to Gambia in return for tighter controls.

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Last updated:Tue Oct 31 19:13:47 2006