Spain: Investigation into death at sea of 36 African migrants

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/immi-n20.shtml

By Paul Stuart

20 November 2003

On November 12, Spain’s national ombudsman, Enrique Mugica, announced that
an inquiry would be launched into the horrifying events of October 25 when
36 immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned after their motorboat sank
in high seas off the coast off Cadiz. The inquiry will concentrate on why
it took 52 minutes for rescue services to leave the shore after the
motorboat had been reported to be in severe difficulties.

Rogelio Navarrete, captain of the freighter Focs Tennerife, twice alerted
the Cadiz authorities of a boat in distress and kept communication
channels open whilst he used his cargo ship to shield the vessel from 6-
metre-high waves. The freighter was unable to get close enough for a
rescue without endangering the small craft and his own freighter. Up to 90
oil tankers pass through the straits every day, many of which unknowingly
crush small migrant ships in their way.

The migrants’ boat drifted past the largest joint US-Spanish naval and air
base at Rota—home to the US Sixth Fleet and the Spanish navy—and shortly
afterwards disappeared beneath the waves. It was not until almost an hour
after receiving the distress signal from the Focs Tennerife that a rescue
craft was launched. Even then, the crew—volunteers untrained in sea rescue—
had to hire a private tugboat because security services’ boats were not
operational.

Over the next three weeks, 36 decomposing bodies were washed ashore on the
beaches around the Bay of Cadiz. El Pais described the events as the
greatest recorded tragedy of “clandestine” immigrants in Spanish history.
The captain of the Focs Tennerife told the newspaper, “Couldn’t someone
have come from the base at Rota? They have plenty of launches, landing
ships and trained personnel.”

News reporters from the British Guardian questioned Spanish authorities,
who were unable to confirm whether the naval base had been asked for help
or even knew about the presence of the immigrants’ motorboat. A US
spokesman for the base commented, “The Spanish have the lead on recovery
and rescue... We would have assisted if we had been asked.”

It is impossible to believe that the military base was unaware of the
boat’s distress. Every naval base is on a high state of alert for the
approach of just such small vessels because of the fear of terrorist
attacks. It is more likely that its location and progress were monitored
very closely using satellite and advanced radar systems.

Socialist Party (PSOE) spokesman in Congress, Consuelo Rumi, attempted to
divert mounting criticism of the authorities when he declared, “Whatever
the reality of the situation, the tragedy in Cadiz highlights the lack of
resources at the disposal of the emergency services in Spain.”

This claim is a complete fabrication. In 1999, the Popular Party (PP)
government of Jose Aznar announced an additional £100 million would be
spent on operation “South Frontier.” Operated by the Civil Guard, the
operation was described as an “Integrated System of External Vigilance”
(its Spanish acronym is SIVE), utilising the latest technology in long-
distance radar systems, thermal cameras, night viewfinders, infrared
optics, helicopters and patrol boats to guard Spain’s south coast.

The surveillance system was specifically designed to detect small boats
used by migrants attempting to cross from Africa to Spain through the
Strait of Gibraltar. A radar network on either side of the Strait was
designed to enable the authorities to establish how many people were
travelling on these boats.

On November 10, the PP’s public works minister issued a statement
asserting that the rescue was delayed because the sinking boat had not
sent a distress signal, and claimed that the authorities had acted
with “diligence” hampered by “adverse weather conditions.” He only
succeeded in highlighting that Spain’s sea rescue and security services
are geared more towards “preventing arrival” than rescue.

Aznar’s government has become synonymous with the concept of a “Fortress
Europe” against immigrants arriving from the African continent. In
November 2001, Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted a six-week investigation
into the conditions of migrants detained by Spanish authorities on the
Canary Islands and issued a series of recommendations to the government.
Three months later, HRW reported that the situation had worsened and that
migrants face appalling treatment.

Spanish citizens caught helping immigrants are regarded as criminals. One
notorious incident was reported in July 11, 2001, in the New York Times.
Juan Antonio Lopez, a 24-year-old taxi driver from Zahara de los Atunes, a
town near Tarifa, spent 15 days in jail for giving a ride to undocumented
immigrants.

Immigrants arriving in Spain from sub-Saharan Africa describe journeys of
almost unimaginable suffering and danger. Surviving civil wars and brutal
militias in several African countries, they arrive in Algeria and then
must walk across the desert to Morocco. If they run out of supplies or
take the wrong route, they perish. They are hunted by the Moroccan police
and are forced to pay a fortune to people traffickers for transit into
Spain.

Sixteen medical experts recently gathered at the European Union
headquarters to plead for assistance for immigrants who are suffering
chronic mental disorders because of their experiences. The medics attacked
the European Union’s common immigration policy as giving priority to
keeping people out instead of dealing with the problems they and other
organisations have identified.

Psychiatrists in Barcelona, who have been monitoring the mental health of
African and other immigrants for a number of years, have defined a new
mental disorder connected to their experiences en route to Spain. They
have named it the “Ulysses syndrome.” Barcelona psychiatrist and pioneer
in the field Jeseba Anchotegui explained, “We have dubbed it the Ulysses
syndrome because the odyssey they talk to us about in getting as far as
here reminded us of the Greek hero of the Mediterranean Sea.”

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