Letter to the Guardian

Dear Guardian

Phil Woolas claims* that "Spain is on its fourth one-off amnesty and the result of that is more dead bodies on the beach of people coming over from Africa."

Most of the dead bodies - those that are actually recovered - are, in fact, found on beaches in the Canary Islands, whose proximity to Africa is in fact the most likely reason why it is a preferred destination. If it were so easy to get into Spain, it is unlikely that they would pay a lot of money to cross dangerous waters in lethal boats. They would do what Western European migrants, like myself, prefer to do, and catch a plane.

Yours

ejh