Rabat – Spain’s National Court has refused to release six Moroccan immigrants who entered the country aboard an Air Arabia flight earlier this month.
The case of the flight gained notoriety earlier this month after 24 passengers, most of them Moroccan, fled the plane when it made an emergency landing at the Palma de Mallorca airport.
The plane had left Casablanca for Istanbul, but was forced to make an emergency landing in Spain after a passenger was thought to be going through a health emergency.
Nine more perpetrators are still at large, with detectives suspecting that they have been receiving assistance on Spanish territory. Spain has also returned two suspects to Morocco, and arrested four more after the initial arrest of 12.
Spanish police reportedly have evidence that at least two of the perpetrators who have not been apprehended yet escaped to Barcelona via boat the day following the landing.
The passenger who claimed to be suffering a coma in the plane was arrested in Spain as a suspect in the cast, after hospital staff said he was fine and discharged him.
Read also: Spain Arrests 12 Passengers For Fleeing Plane, Most Suspects Are Moroccans
Authorities are also investigating the flight crew and other people involved in the incident, in trying to determine whether the emergency landing decision was called unilaterally by the captain, or if a doctor on board did indeed recommend it.
The Spanish government vowed to arrest everyone involved in the staging of the “unprecedented” operation.
The investigation confirmed that the operation was conceived and planned on a Moroccan Facebook group named “Brooklyn” on July 17.
The incident can be seen as an indicator of larger trends, as people seeking to enter Europe in pursuit of better economic prospects have proved creative and willing to take life-threatening risks in their attempt to reach Europe.
Morocco’s government has consistently voiced its commitment to aiding its EU partners in curbing illegal immigration, and has been cooperating with Spain in this latest investigation.
