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AFRICA

Migrants opt for dinghies in Spain bid

Spanish and Moroccan rescuers on Tuesday intercepted four small dinghies packed with 23 illegal immigrants trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and make landfall on Spain's southern shore.

Migrants opt for dinghies in Spain bid
A would-be migrant holds up his bible after being rescued near Tarifa in southern Spain. Photo: Marcos Moreno/AFP

Spain's maritime service said rescuers had picked up 12 migrants who were travelling on two boats while Morocco had intercepted 11 people who were on another two vessels.

The migrants were given blankets and transported to the port of Tarifa in the Spanish province of Cadiz which is located across the Strait of Gibraltar facing Morocco.

Spanish police then took them to a detention centre for undocumented migrants.

The use of inflatable rubber boats, instead of larger and more secure wooden fishing vessels, by African migrants trying to enter Spain from Morocco is on the rise.

Spanish authorities on Monday intercepted 27 illegal immigrants travelling in three inflatable boats. Another 35 migrants were picked up on March 18 on
four inflatable boats.

"The 'modus operandi' used by migrants trying to reach Spain has changed in recent months,"  said Antonio Fernandez, the head of emergency operations for the Spanish Red Cross.

"Instead of using a boat where 30 or 40 people attempt the crossing, they are literally buying toy boats made of plastic with room for four, five or six people and they try to cross," he said.

"This method is more precarious, if that is possible. There is a greater risk of sinking and therefore of drowning."

The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain and Morocco by only 15 kilometres (nine miles) — a ferry ride between the two continents takes roughly 35 minutes — making it one of the key smuggling routes for illegal immigrants crossing into Europe.

Thousands of illegal migrants from Africa regularly attempt to cross from Morocco into Spain on makeshift boats each year.

Some travel thousands of miles overland, being handed from smuggler to smuggler, ending up at one of many ports in northern Africa for a cramped and treacherous sea crossing to European soil.

The number of migrants who arrived on Spanish shores by boat last year totalled 3,804, a 30 percent drop from 2012, according to interior ministry figures.

Other migrants try to cross illegally into the tiny Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, perched on the coast of north Africa and both claimed by Morocco.

Spain reinforced the metal border fence separating Melilla from Morocco in August after a resurgence of crossing attempts, with hundreds of would-be immigrants waiting nearby for a chance to climb over.

Earlier this month about 150 African migrants stormed a border fence in Melilla and crossed illegally from Morocco into Spanish territory and about 50 of them managed to enter the enclave.

Twelve people were injured, including two Spanish policemen who were attacked as they tried to stop the migrants, according to the local Spanish government delegation.

The Moroccan Association of Human Rights said 25 people were injured, including a 30-year-old from Cameron who died from his injuries on March 18 at a hospital in the Moroccan city of Nador.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders announced on March 13 that it was closing its projects in Morocco in protest at the plight of African migrants allegedly abused by Spanish and Moroccan police as they try to reach European soil.

Melilla received 2,224 illegal immigrants last year, 262 more than in 2011, according to Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz.

Instability in Africa's Sahel region, especially in Mali, is behind the rise in illegal immigrants trying to enter the enclave, he added.

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ABORTION

Gibraltar holds referendum on its draconian abortion laws

Gibraltar heads to the polls on Thursday to vote on plans to ease abortion laws which currently carry possible life sentences for offenders, in a referendum delayed for over a year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gibraltar holds referendum on its draconian abortion laws
A woman wears a t-shirt reading " Gibraltar for Yes!" outside a polling station in Gibraltar, on June 24, 2021. Photo: Jorge Guerrero/AFP

The issue has exposed sharply opposing views within this tiny, normally closely-knit British enclave at the southernmost tip of Spain, which is home to some 32,000 people.

The referendum was initially slated for March 19 2020 but a week ahead of the vote it was postponed as virus cases began spiralling at the start of the pandemic.Except in cases where it would save the mother’s life, abortion is currently banned in Gibraltar on pain of life imprisonment, although such a penalty has not been applied in modern times.

The government is proposing changes to the law to allow abortion where a woman’s mental or physical health is at risk — such as in cases of rape or incest — or when foetuses have fatal physical defects.

Although the changes have already been approved by Gibraltar’s parliament, the referendum will decide whether or not that amended law be brought into force.

Under the changes, a woman would be able to undergo an abortion up to 12 weeks into her pregnancy if her mental or physical health is deemed at risk, or beyond if such damage would be grave and permanent.

There would be no time limit on cases involving fatal foetal anomaly.

Until now, women wanting to have an abortion have had to travel to Spain or to Britain to undergo the procedure.

Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo and his wife Justine Olivero leave a polling station after casting their ballots. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP

– ‘In Gibraltar’s best interests’ –

Ahead of the vote, both sides have been campaigning hard, with Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and two other party leaders releasing a video urging people to vote “Yes” to the proposed amendment to the crimes act that will regulate abortions in Gibraltar.

“My personal, professional & political opinion on the abortion referendum: it is in #Gibraltar’s best interests to #VoteYes on Thursday 24th June,” Picardo tweeted.

“No” campaigners have also been rallying support with hundreds of people dressed in pink and purple joining a pro-life “Save Babies, vote no” march through the city centre last week, chanting “We vote no!”

On the ballot, voters will be asked: “Should the Crimes (Amendment) Act 2019, that defines the circumstances which would allow abortion in Gibraltar, come into force?”

If the changes are approved, the law is expected to take effect fairly quickly although officials have not yet laid out a timeline.

The proposed changes came after Britain’s Supreme Court ruled in June 2018 that Northern Ireland’s abortion laws, which at the time were almost identical to Gibraltar’s, were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

“It is therefore clear that if the equivalent law on abortion in Northern Ireland was in breach of the Convention, our identical, archaic law is too,” wrote Picardo in an op-ed in Wednesday’s Gibraltar Chronicle.

“It is our duty to vote to stop this ongoing breach.”

Picardo has said he believed the changes were long overdue and that the plans would be approved “by a very large majority”.

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