Migrant found hiding in toxic waste in Spain

Published February 23, 2021
AN image released by Spanish police shows a policeman coming across an aspiring migrant hidden in a sack of toxic waste.—AFP
AN image released by Spanish police shows a policeman coming across an aspiring migrant hidden in a sack of toxic waste.—AFP

MADRID: Police found a would-be migrant hidden in a sack of toxic waste at the port in Spain’s Melilla enclave on Morocco’s northern coast last week, police said on Monday.

The discovery was made on Friday when a person was found unconscious in a sealed plastic bag containing flue ash, a by-product of burning coal which is classed as toxic under European waste laws.

The officer who made the discovery first noticed a shape like a human leg and immediately called an ambulance after initially thinking he had come across a dead body.

But after being removed from the sack, the person regained consciousness and was saved.

Police discovered a total of 41 migrants at the port trying to illegally board boats to the Spanish mainland on Friday, hidden in lorries and other vehicles.

A number were hidden in containers full of broken glass for recycling and had suffered “multiple cuts”, police said.

Last year, more than 41,000 migrants entered Spain illegally by land and sea, about 30 percent more than in 2019.

More than half of them landed on the Canary Islands after a perilous sea crossing which last year saw the number of arrivals soar eightfold.

Migrant arrivals increased as people looked for alternative routes to reach Europe due to increased patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the same period, around 1,500 migrants reached Melilla, one of two Spanish enclaves on the northern coast of Morocco which represent the land borders the European Union has with Africa.

Both are popular destinations for migrants seeking to enter Europe illegally, with migrants regularly trying to scale the border fence or reach them by swimming along the coast.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.