Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Follow-up: Belgian police peeved over Cajamarca affair

Police and immigration authorities in Belgium have expressed their displeasure after a judge stopped the deportation of an Ecuadorian mother and daughter. "The Federal Police have never used any means of constraint or use of violence against these two," said a police spokesman since the judge found evidence of police abuse in the month-long detention of Ana Cajamarca and her 11-year-old daughter Angelica (image).

Belgian police union chairman Philip Van Hamme was more energetic in his disappointment over the Cajamarca case:

“If that court upholds the decision from Monday, then we're through. Then we might as well just forget about picking up and repatriating illegal aliens. It will become a circus…Our personnel are really wondering what they are supposed to be doing here.”

The judge’s decision does not guarantee that the Cajamarcas will be allowed to stay in Belgium despite protests in their favor there and in Ecuador.

Image- The Peninsula On-line

Sources- The Peninsula On-line, BBC News, International Herald Tribune, Belgium Expatica, The Latin Americanist

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