Monday, November 18, 2019

National populists in Spain promise to build ‘impassable wall’


Spain’s national populist party Vox, the country’s third-largest party as of this week, has pledged to erect an “impassable wall” around its North African exclaves to prevent illegal immigration.

Ahead of the country’s national elections that were held on last Sunday, Vox presented a list of 100 proposals which included policies that would work to drastically reduce the number of illegal migrants living in Spain.

Increased deportations of illegal migrants, more stringent border controls, and the construction of an “impassable wall” around the country’s North African exclaves were among Vox’s top priorities, online newspaper El Confidencial reports.

Security barriers that separate Spain’s North African exclaves – Melilla and Ceuta – from Morocco have continually proven themselves to be ineffective over the years, with hundreds of migrants scaling the existing fences on several occasions in the past few years.

In July, six Spanish border guards were injured in Melilla after 200 illegal migrants attempted to scale the security barrier which separates Europe from North Africa.

Also within the 100 proposals Vox outlined for voters, the party promised that it would provide additional material and financial support to police, armed forces, and security personnel in charge of patrolling the Spanish border.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal also has said that he would criminalize NGO boats operating in the Mediterranean Sea that assist human traffickers in the ferrying of migrants into Europe from North Africa.

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