Migrants on the Southern borders” “

A Commission of the Jesuits’ Service for Migrants-Spain (Sjm-E) submitted a Report titled “Life on southern borders: forced migrants and refugees in Morocco and access to Spanish territory”, to Ombudsman Soledad Becerri. The document is based on two visits of members of SIM-E and SIR-E (The Jesuit Service for Refugees-Europe) to the borders between Morocco and Spain, in Nador and Melilla, accompanied by the diocesan delegation for migrations in Tánger, as regards Nador. From a transit Country to a place of residence. The report highlights increasing numbrs of people “blocked” in Morocco for long periods, even as much as one or two years”. “This situations – the Jesuits pointed out – has triggered complex dynamics for migrants and the local population hosting them whereby Morocco is no longer a transit country but rather a place of long-term residence”. After their visit, the members of SIM-Spain and SIR-Europe said they were “shocked” by the “difficult living conditions of the transit migrant and refugee populations stuck in Morocco owing to European and Spanish policies on migration control”. They signalled the “ordeals and the risks that migrants have to face, which are seldom taken into account by policymakers and which involve them in first person”. The living conditions in the settlements in Nador, the Bosque Gurugú and the Selouane mountains, where migrants move to as they seek to raise money or find a new opportunity to “take the plunge” and enter the European territory, are particularly harsh. The Report highlights food and health problems, the vulnerability of women victims of trafficking and harassment by the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces. Despite immigration reforms approved in Morocco, there is a persisting security policy based on repression. “Migrants prevented to reach Ceuta or Melilla” in Morocco “are deported from the borders and brought to Rabat, where they are left free and usually at the bus station, but without neither resources or assistance”. The situation in Melilla. In Melilla Sjm-E has visited the Temporary Detention Facility for Migrants (CETI). In March 1200 people were hosted in the centre with a capacity of 480, they were as many as 1600 in July, 415 of whom were children. If they should be prevented from entering Spain they would have to go to school in Melilla. According to the Report, “CETI has poor infrastructures and lacks basic equipment for the migrant population it’s supposed to host. It is clearly a situation of overcrowding that has reached a saturation point. The reason why the Interior Ministry does not bring to the Peninsula (Iberian, ed.’s note) these people to ease the burden of Ceti, at least those who are in need of protection (refugees, minors, possible victims of trafficking, vulnerable people) is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, “all things considered local associations describe the permanence in the CETI good. Migrants receive blankets, food and medical care and can move freely around the city between 9 and 23. Moreover, Spanish NGOs are authorized to provide various services.” Increasing numbers of unaccompanied minors in Melilla remain a source of major concern. Crossed limits. Upon their return, the Jesuits said that the cross-border system “is a breach in Spanish, European and International law. Moreover, the practices carried out by Spanish and Moroccan authorities pose a serious risk to the life and the physical integrity of people seeking to access the European Union”. Such violations “involve individuals seeking to enter the EU to flee from situations of poverty in search of a better future, as well as those in need of international protection for various reasons”. In the conclusions, the Report states that “migration control cannot be exerted at all costs, there must evidently be ‘red lines” that cannot be crossed, signalling morally unacceptable thresholds. The current situation on the southern border between Morocco and Spain represents a morally unacceptable ‘red line.’ SIM-Spain thus rejects the so-called ”impromptu expulsions’ along with the “operative concept of border'”.