Dale,
 
DS>WD> You can google for "Melilla" and "Ceuta".
 
DS> I never knew that.  Thanks for the info.
 
These settlements pre-date the birth of Christ and was Roman in origin. The
Romans called the Mediterranean "Mare Nostrum" ,,, "Our sea" and by controling
the narrows between the southern tip of Europe and the northern tip of Africa
they kept in check who went in and who went out.
 
Control and dominance was omni-prevalent.
 
Little known by many people is that the southern border of Italy is not Sicily
but a small rock in the Mediterranean called "Lampedusa". That is the thing
people in silly-small inflatable rafts try to reach because it is "Europe".
Nobody really gave a shit about Lampedusa until people-traffickers discovered
its usage and turned it to their advantage.
 
185 miles of open sea in a 25HP outboard engine with a raft holding 100 people
... no radio, no navigational fix, no whatever ... even if the engine works all
 the way and weather is good, it's still a needle in a haystack.
 
There is no fence to scale but the open sea waters are way more dangerous. Tens
 of thousands have perished. One thing you can say about the Mediterranean ...
its fish are well fed.
 
What those poor refugees don't grasp however is that once they reach Melilla,
Ceuta, Lampedusa, Mallorca, Menorca or whichever island they have not really
landed in Europe. All of these place, because of their non-connection to the
mainland, have special visa/customs rules because when you arrive from the sea,
 it could be from anywhere, hence you need documentation. And you know what
peope without proper documntation are ... even in Europe ...
 
 \%/@rd

--- D'Bridge 3.99 SR41
 * Origin: Ceci n'est pas un courriel (2:292/854)