Spain: African stowaways request asylum
01 September 1999
On 21 September, five African citizens who arrived in the Basque port of Pasaia in a boat flying a Cypriot flag asked for political asylum. The five came from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cameroon. Such events are frequent, but this case is peculiar because they all managed to stay ashore after the ship left the harbour. Two succeeded in having their asylum requests admitted, and the other three, with their lawyers' assistance, convinced the Audiencia Nacional to prevent their expulsion on the boat on which they arrived while their applications were considered for admission. It is an important decision because the immigration authorities, as happened on other occasions, tried to prevent their applications from being considered, and to have them repatriated on the boat in which they arrived.