PHANTOM HANDCUFFS FOR IMMIGRANTS AT MELILLA

As I read through the news sites on Internet, an article on MSNBC website caught my eye and surprised me.

The press release by Associated Press dated 7 Oct. (updated 1:08 p.m.) read : "Dozens of African illegal immigrants who charged across the border into the Spanish enclave of Melilla were deported to Morocco after a week of deadly clashes, officials said Friday.The 73 men from Mali were handcuffed and flown Thursday evening from Melilla to Algeciras, on the Spanish mainland, where they were they put aboard a ferry bound for the Moroccan city of Tangiers, a police spokesman in Algeciras said ..."

As a Spanish citizen and expert on Human Relations including immigration affairs, I must express my deep concern for such a remark indicating an action that NEVER OCCURRED. The immigrants were transferred to the Spanish mainland by air and then put on a bus that crossed by ferry from Algeciras to Tangiers. AT NO TIME WERE ANY OF THE PASSENGERS HANCUFFED.

We include pictures of the sad faces of the immigrants boarding a plane and waiting for their bus, without any handcudffsvisible. The only thing held by one of them as they sit at Algeciras is the expulsion document, as is clearly visible.

For the information of readers worldwide, in Spain, we have news as happens and no newspaper is thwarted either by the incumbent Government or political groups. All can express freely what their opinion is but we don't get affirmations that "don't hold water".

Spain´s policy towards immigration has been rather tolerant and the actions taken these past days are in line with agreements between Spain and Morocco before the growing concern over the hordes of hungry Africans that prefer to run the risks of the fences than the sure death in the hands of the wars and misery in their homelands.

When handcuffs were seen was precisely a day later when immigrants from a Moroccan desert camp close to the Argelian-Moroccan border were put on buses to be transferred to the south of Morocco, as per agrement with Senegal and Mali. This had nothing to do with Spanish extradiction actions from Spain to Morocco.

Let's try to be a bit more responsible when reporting the news and avoid making mistakes that may tarnish the humane character of Spanish foreign policy.