Migrant rights NGOs have accused Spanish authorities of carrying out an “unlawful” and “discriminatory” policy of pushbacks and expulsions against “Black” asylum seekers of Sub-Saharan origin at the EU’s external borders of Ceuta and Melilla in Northern Morocco since the declaration of a state of emergency in March 2020.
“A combination of several elements in Spain’s current approach to migration at its borders with Morocco has led to a situation where no genuine and effective access to safe and legal means of entry and asylum exists,” Dunja Mijatović concluded last April.
“This leaves certain groups of asylum seekers with no other effective option to enter the borders to seek protection with the relevant authorities other than by swimming or jumping the fence, risking one’s life,” the Commissioner added.
The issue has been compounded by Spain and Morocco’s failure to lift the COVID-era ban on new migrant crossings despite promises to reopen the land borders with Ceuta and Melilla, said Elena Muñoz, Legal State Coordinator at the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR).
The Strasbourg-based international court of the Council of Europe found that Spain was not in violation of the convention, as the two asylum seekers involved in the case “had not made use of the existing official entry procedures for that purpose.”
By striking migration deals with Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Algeria and Egypt, the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen is funding North African countries to handle pushbacks and expulsions, she said.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Migrant rights NGOs have accused Spanish authorities of carrying out an “unlawful” and “discriminatory” policy of pushbacks and expulsions against “Black” asylum seekers of Sub-Saharan origin at the EU’s external borders of Ceuta and Melilla in Northern Morocco since the declaration of a state of emergency in March 2020.
“A combination of several elements in Spain’s current approach to migration at its borders with Morocco has led to a situation where no genuine and effective access to safe and legal means of entry and asylum exists,” Dunja Mijatović concluded last April.
“This leaves certain groups of asylum seekers with no other effective option to enter the borders to seek protection with the relevant authorities other than by swimming or jumping the fence, risking one’s life,” the Commissioner added.
The issue has been compounded by Spain and Morocco’s failure to lift the COVID-era ban on new migrant crossings despite promises to reopen the land borders with Ceuta and Melilla, said Elena Muñoz, Legal State Coordinator at the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR).
The Strasbourg-based international court of the Council of Europe found that Spain was not in violation of the convention, as the two asylum seekers involved in the case “had not made use of the existing official entry procedures for that purpose.”
By striking migration deals with Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Algeria and Egypt, the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen is funding North African countries to handle pushbacks and expulsions, she said.
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