ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO BE REPATRIATED

According to police sources, nine of the twelve immigrants who were intercepted last Thursday in a small boat off the coast of Cabo Roig, have been placed in the Immigrant Detention Centre (CIE) in Valencia, where they will remain for a maximum of up to 60 days, until they are deported to their country of origin. The finding was confirmed by a judge in the Torrevieja courts last Sunday.

The occupants of the dinghy, all Algerian nationals, were placed before the courts where the judge approved the request of the prosecutor for their internment. The nine were then transferred to Alicante until such time as they can be admitted to the CIE in Valencia.

Three minors, all under 17 years of age, remain in Torrevieja, however, in the care of the Red Cross. It is envisaged that they will be moved later in the week to the Prosecutor's Office for Children in Alicante.

The small boat in which the twelve were travelling was spotted by the Maritime Service of the Guardia Civil on the morning of New Year's Eve off the coast of Cabo Roig. After being intercepted, the occupants, who said they had been three days without food, were taken to Torrevieja where they were care for by the Red Cross.

According to the Department of the Interior this brings the number of boats diverted into Torrevieja during the last year to five, containing a total of 45 illegal immigrants.