The strained diplomatic relations between Spain and Algeria since 2022 have led national police officers from various autonomous communities to stop asking the courts for permission to detain them. Foreigners Internment Center (CIE) to irregular immigrants arriving in Spain by sea.
The increase in patera-type boats has not stopped in recent years and when they are intercepted, the corresponding return agreements are processed for violation of immigration law. But most of the boats come from Algeria and currently Repatriations of Algerian citizens are paralyzed.
Since they are not documented by their country of origin, agents cannot request internment until the administrative file is completed and the issuing countries, in this case Algeria, refuse to take back their nationals.
This is according to the annual report of the State Attorney General’s Office, published after the opening of the Judicial year 2024-2025 and consulted by EL ESPAÑOL.
income decreases
In 2023, prosecutors issued a total of 2,726 reports of preventive detention of foreignersa figure similar to that of the previous year. Among them, 2,019 were in favour and 707 were against the adoption of this precautionary measure.
However, prosecutors in communities receiving more maritime immigrants confirmed that “During 2023, containment measures in the CIE decreased“, according to the report.
Thus, even though the increase in patera-type ships arriving on the Spanish coast has continued to grow, “as all the ships come from Algeria and the repatriation of Algerian citizens is currently paralyzed”, The police themselves have stopped requesting authorisation to carry out internment in a CIE“, the prosecution said.
The warning comes from the prosecutors’ offices of Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia. This situation is causing a blockage in the return operations of immigrants arriving on the Spanish coasts in an irregular situation and the agents find themselves without the tools to be able to request their detention in a CIE, according to sources from the police agencies consulted by this newspaper.
“This is not only happening with Algeria, but also with Morocco and Senegal.“, they add. Rejected by their country, the immigrants are abandoned to their fate when they manage to reach Spain because the police forces themselves refuse to request their internment in a CIE.
popular route
In 2022, Algeria suspended the friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation agreement, signed with Spain on October 8, 2002, due to Moncloa’s alignment with Moroccan theses in the dispute over the Western Sahara.
At the same time, the Algerian route is increasingly popular and the Spanish authorities no longer know how to stop it. The Balearic Islands, for example, have already received the same immigrants as during the whole of 2023, a situation that adds to the pressure suffered by other regions of Spain such as Ceuta or the Canary Islands.
According to the NGO UNHCR10,639 people arrived by this route in 2023, and about 8,000 this year until the end of August. The route extends east of the Alboran Sea and is used mainly by Algerian citizens.
The motorboats, most of them improvised and overloaded, initially set out with the aim of reaching the coast of Almeria. But in recent years they have diverted to more distant and dangerous destinations such as Alicante, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, according to a report prepared this year by the group. Borders on foot.
Although the Atlantic waters towards the Canary Islands are recognized as the deadliest, the route from Algeria to Alicante and the Spanish Levante ranks second in terms of mortality, with 175 deaths in the first five months of 2024.
The main departure points for Murcia are Oran and Mostaganem. Tipasa or Chlef generally embark for Alicante. And the boats that leave from the capital Algiers or Boumerdes, further north, generally try to reach the Balearic Islands, according to this organization.
The minimum distance from the level crossing is about 160 kilometersand they generally measure between 5 and 6 meters in length and two meters in width, with engines of 60 to 140 horsepower.
The police force stresses the great danger of this route, because the Mediterranean is a closed sea and because of the saturation of the boats (with between 15 and 20 people although the maximum is 10).
Unaccompanied minors
The prosecution also warned that in 2023, this had been appreciated “a notable increase in unaccompanied foreign minors arriving in Spain by sea on board small boats or other fragile vessels.”
In total, 4,865 minors have been located, compared to 2,375 who arrived in 2022. The vast majority are men (4,627) and only 238 girls have been counted, following the trend of previous years, according to the public prosecutor.
The largest number comes from Senegal (1,780), followed by natives of Morocco (1,075), Gambia (657) and Algeria (472).
Likewise, a total of 923 children arrived in Spain by boat in union with adults who claimed to have a paternal-maternal filial relationship with the minor.
In the Register of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors, as of December 31, 2023, a total of 12,878 unaccompanied minors under guardianship or shelter of protection services, compared to 11,417 in 2022.
In addition, prosecutors opened a total of 7,422 pre-procedural procedures to determine age, which represents a significant increase from the 4,805 processed in 2022.
Of these, 2,436 were found to be adults, 3,231 were minors or there was a possibility that they were minors and 1,755 concluded “without age determination due to the abandonment of the centers before the procedures could be carried out.”
