eight Algerian smugglers of migrants sentenced to prison
Eight Algerian migrant smugglers were arrested in September and sentenced to prison after trying to bring into France, from Spain, some thirty migrants, most of them Algerians.
During the month of September, “numerous” police operations “led to the arrests of eight Algerian smugglers (holders of Spanish residence permits) who were trying to bring about thirty migrants, mostly of nationality, into France illegally. Algerian, recently landed on the Spanish coast “, write the authorities in a press release. The migrants were turned away and the eight smugglers arrested.
Between 200 and 500 euros per migrant to reach France
The investigation made it possible “to attribute to each accused numerous other crossings at various border points, prices varying from 200 to 500 euros per passenger, for a journey generally made between Lérida (Spain) and Toulouse Matabiau SNCF station“.
Judged in immediate comparison, the eight smugglers “were all sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from four months to one year, with immediate detention”.
For “several months”, the Toulouse border police have been carrying out “fixed and mobile checks over the entire border area in order to detect any migratory flow”, underlines the local French authorities. France, which will take over the presidency of the European Union in January for the next six months, will support “a policy of solidarity” towards countries of “first entry” into Europe, such as Greece, Italy or Europe. Spain, but “the rigorous control of the border seems to us to be a condition of solidarity”, explained Tuesday the French minister in charge of asylum questions, Marlène Schiappa.
Reinforced controls at French borders
Spain is one of the main entry points for illegal immigrants in France, who arrive by the coast from North Africa. In November 2020, President Emmanuel Macron announced during a trip to the Franco-Spanish border, a doubling of the forces controlling the borders of France, “from 2,400 to 4,800”, to fight against the terrorist threat, trafficking and illegal immigration.