fire detention centre Schiphol - many migrants died
dear all,
just to update you. Yesterday, many migrants died at
Schiphol, after
the police
refused to open the doors of where they were held. I
am pasting the
press
below. Some people are organizing a fax protest and
would need help
with the
right nr of
Jan Piet Hein Donner Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Post Office Box 20301
2500 EH The Hague
The Netherlands
voorlichting@???
will update you with the rest soon.
Rutvica
from aljazeera.net
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6DAA84FA-1F5A-4CEA-AF31-86909C674E18.htm
Many killed in Amsterdam airport fire
Thursday 27 October 2005, 11:57 Makka Time, 8:57 GMT
One detainee said initial warnings had been ignored
A fire in a prison complex at Amsterdam's Schiphol
airport has killed
11
illegal
immigrants and injured 15 other people, authorities
have said.
The identities and nationalities of the dead were not
immediately
known.
Officials declined to respond to reports that the
fire, which burned
for
several
hours, might have been set by one of the prisoners and
that the cells
were
unsafe.
"They were illegal aliens waiting to be extradited to
their countries
of
origin," said Immigration Service spokesman Martin
Bruinsma.
"We are still busy trying to confirm their
identities."
An unknown number of detainees escaped during the fire
that broke out
on
Wednesday shortly after midnight and raged until 0300
(0100GMT).
Firefighters and airport police were among the
injured, according to
the news
reports. Four people were hospitalized for treatment.
Warnings ignored
"We are still busy trying to confirm their identities"
Martin Bruinsma,
Immigration Service spokesman
A prisoner told the Dutch television station NOS that
guards initially
did not
take prisoners' warnings of a fire seriously and told
them nothing was
wrong.
"They didn't open the door. They kept us locked up.
Our throats started
hurting.
We were kicking and screaming," said the detainee, who
was not
identified.
The detention block is located on the east side of
Schiphol airport
and is
surrounded by a three-metre fence and barbed wire.
The sprawling prefabricated buildings were set up in
2002 and are used
to
detain
people who arrive by plane and have been refused entry
to the
Netherlands -
among them drug smugglers and failed asylum seekers.
Immigration policy flayed
Prisoners were taken to other
facilities after the fire broke out
About 350 prisoners were being held in the complex
when the fire broke
out.
Uninjured prisoners were taken to other facilities in
nearby cities or
moved
elsewhere within the complex, Dutch media reported.
Helicopters were called in during the fire to track
down possible
escaped
detainees.
The Netherlands, which has adopted one of the toughest
immigration
policies in
Europe, is in the process of deporting some 26,000
asylum seekers who
have been
refused Dutch residency.
Rights groups have criticized the policy, saying
people have been
deported to
countries where they could face persecution or abuse.
Hundreds of cocaine smugglers, mostly from the
Caribbean and Curacao,
are
detained at the airport every year, as are immigrants
caught trying to
enter
the country illegally.
---------------------------------
from BBC
Detainees killed in Dutch blaze
Officials say the emergency services acted quickly
At least 11 people have died, and 15 are in hospital,
after a
three-hour
blaze in a detention centre at Amsterdam's Schiphol
airport. The blaze
broke out
soon after midnight in the centre, which houses
illegal immigrants and
drug
smugglers awaiting deportation from the Netherlands.
Some of the 350 prisoners at the centre said guards
were slow to
respond to
their cries for help.
Police said they were looking for some detainees who
may have escaped.
Witnesses described flames licking from the windows of
the
prefabricated
complex, which is sited only yards from one of the
runways on the east
side of
the
airport.
Our throats started hurting. We kicked, we
screamed, we rang the
bell of
course. And then panic broke out
Detainee
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said: "It's
terrible if you
hear
about a fire of such size, 11 people dead.
"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and
the wounded."
Warnings 'ignored'
The cause of the blaze is still unknown.
"The 11 who died were detainees," said local Mayor
Michel Bezuijen, but
their
nationalities and identities were not released.
He said an independent inquiry would be set up, as
well as the regular
judicial inquiry, while a European prisoners' rights
group said it
would also
investigate.
MPs said they wanted an inquest to look at safety
issues.
Forty-three people were said to be in the wing that
caught fire, where
two
dozen cells held up to two people each.
There were some firefighters and police among the
injured.
One detainee at the centre told Dutch radio that
guards had initially
ignored
their warnings of a fire and their banging on the cell
doors.
"We remained locked inside. We were shouting at the
top of our voices
until
we were hoarse," he said.
Speaking on Dutch television, a detainee described the
growing panic.
"First they said there was no problem, and they just
kept us locked
up," he
said.
"Our throats started hurting. We kicked, we screamed,
we rang the bell
of
course. And then panic broke out."
A spokesman for the prosecutors' office, Martin
Bruinsma, told AFP news
agency the emergency services had acted "very
quickly", but that cell
doors
could
only be opened manually, one at a time.
The Dutch National Refugee Council criticised
conditions at the centre,
particularly the lack of an automatic system to open
cell doors.
Escape
Some of the detainees have been transferred to other
detention centres
in the
Netherlands.
Helicopters were being used to search for several who
are believed to
have
escaped from the centre. Police said three were
arrested trying to
escape.
The complex is used for people arriving by plane who
are refused entry
to the
Netherlands.
Hundreds of cocaine smugglers, mostly from the
Netherlands Antilles and
other
parts of the Caribbean, are detained at the airport
every year, along
with
illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.
The Netherlands has one of the toughest immigration
policies in Europe,
and
is in the process of deporting 26,000 asylum seekers
who have been
refused the
right to stay.
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, visiting the site
on Thursday, said:
"It's
awful. I offer my condolences to the families."
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
LINKS TO MORE EUROPE STORIES
&
BBC NEWS: VIDEO AND AUDIO
Pictures of the blaze and its aftermath
SERVICES
News alerts
Get the latest breaking news delivered to your desktop
with the new
alert
service
FROM OTHER NEWS SITES:
Washington Post* 11 Killed in Amsterdam Fire - 1 hr
ago
Xinhua News Agency 11 detainees killed in Dutch
airport blaze - 2 hrs
ago
Reuters Eleven killed in Amsterdam jail fire - 5 hrs
ago
CBS News Dutch Airport Fire Kills 11 Immigrants - 6
hrs ago
Sky News Dutch Airport Fire Kills 11 Prisoners Full
Story - 9 hrs ago
About these results
* Requires registration
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external
internet sites
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
