Spanish police fire at drowning migrants

This 10 March 2014 video says about itself:

Spain’s interior minister has admitted police should not have fired rubber bullets as migrants attempted to swim from Morocco to Ceuta last month.

Some 15 migrants drowned as hundreds tried to reach the Spanish territory in North Africa on February 6 2014.

The EU and human rights groups have criticised Spanish police, saying the bullets could have played a part in the deaths.

Read more here.

Another video used to say about itself:

8 Feb 2014

Video, recorded by a witness, contradicts official reports that the Spanish Civil Guard played no part in the drowning deaths of illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Witnesses claim those in the water were intimidated and fired upon for 1/2 an hour with rubber bullets; at least 13 people reportedly drowned. The tragedy occurred as they attempted to reach a seawall that separates the territory from Morocco.

Of the thirteen reported missing, nine bodies have been recovered by the Moroccan authorities — eight men and one woman. Reports suggest that four died in a crush, and another four drowned, “just a few meters from the shore.”

Civil Guard sources said reports of rubber bullets being fired were “false,” although Moroccan and Spanish security forces used riot gear to repel the entry attempt.

So, that was five days ago.

Today, the claim by the Spanish Guardia Civil that they did not fire bullets at the swimming people has been officially admitted to be a lie.

From the Times of Malta:

Thursday, February 13, 2014, 16:52

Spanish police fire rubber bullets at migrants trying to swim to enclave

Spain said today that border police had fired rubber bullets in an attempt to turn back around 200 migrants who tried to cross the frontier between Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave Ceuta on Thursday last week.

At least 11 migrants from the group drowned in the Mediterranean trying to swim around a man-made breakwater that separates Moroccan and Spanish waters, a Spanish official said today.

Every year thousands of Africans try to reach Europe via Spain’s two north African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, either by swimming along the coast or climbing the triple walls lined with razor wire that mark the border with Morocco.

Migrants who live rough in the mountains on the Moroccan side, waiting for an opportunity to rush the frontier, told Spanish media the police fired rubber bullets at them and sprayed them with tear gas as they tried to swim to land.

Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez told a parliamentary commission on Thursday that rubber bullets had been fired at a distance of at least 25 metres from the migrants while they were in the water. He did not mention use of tear gas.

…

Hundreds protested in central Madrid on Wednesday against the treatment of illegal migrants in Spain, bearing placards reading slogans such as: “Ceuta: the shame of Europe” and “South looted, North closed”.

The pressure on Ceuta and Melilla has increased as more migrants try to enter via a land frontier rather than by crossing the sea in rickety vessels, because border control at sea has increased.

…

Interior Minister Fernandez said the breakwater separating Spanish and Moroccan waters would be lengthened during to deter migrants trying to swim to Spanish territory.

Spanish authorities lie about African migrant drownings: here.

SPAIN said today that it will receive €10 million (£8.14m) from the European Union to prevent immigration in the Spanish north African territories of Ceuta and Melilla: here.