Spain Cracks Down On Police Chief Who Offered Extra Days Off To Prolific Migrant Catchers

Spain has launched disciplinary action against the chief of the migration department in a Basque town bordering France after he promised extra days off to officers for catching illegal migrants, Madrid's representative in the Basque Country said Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2023) Spain has launched disciplinary action against the chief of the migration department in a Basque town bordering France after he promised extra days off to officers for catching illegal migrants, Madrid's representative in the Basque Country said Wednesday.

The regional branch of the Jupol police union blew the whistle on the migrant-hunting ploy on Tuesday. It published an internal police memo that said officers who caught an illegal migrant during their weekend shift would get one extra day off, two extra days off for two migrants and three extra days off for more than 10 arrests, starting July 1.

"The case of Irun is an absurd mistake that was corrected as soon as it was noticed and that has led to the opening of a disciplinary procedure," Spanish government delegate Denis Itxaso said on social media.

The Spanish official stressed that police performance was in no way measured by the number of arrests made.

Spain has been struggling to cope with the rising number of predominantly sub-Saharan African migrants coming ashore in a bid to reach better-off European countries. Spanish police have been criticized for chasing suspected illegal migrants through the streets after an illegal vendor died from a heart attack in 2018.