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Human Rights Watch Urges Spain to Drop Amendment to Immigration Law

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Human Rights Watch and similar organizations denounce a drafted Spanish immigration law amendment allowing to reject foreigners who attempt "an unauthorized crossing of the border."

MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) – A group of 13 human rights organizations have urged Spain to drop a proposed amendment to an immigration law allowing the expulsion of illegal North African migrants and asylum seekers from the country, according to the Human Rights Watch website.

"Sending people straight back to Morocco without any procedural safeguards is a clear breach of European and international human rights law," the group wrote Thursday, addressing the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Francois Crepeau and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks.

Spain's amendment to the immigration law was proposed by the Spanish ruling Popular Party in October.

The amendment stipulates that foreigners found in the Spanish border enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta "attempting to make an unauthorized crossing of the border in a clandestine, flagrant or violent way, shall be rejected in order to prevent their illegal entry into Spain," Human Rights Watch detailed citing the provision on its website.

The watchdog says it fears the amendment could cause collective expulsions, as well as depriving migrants of a "range of rights".

The Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla, which lie on North Africa's Mediterranean coast and border Morocco on three sides, are often used by migrants as a launch pad to Europe. Many migrants attempting to flee North Africa are caught by police while many others die while crossing the sea into Europe.

In 2005, Spain and Morocco agreed to reinforce the border to prevent the influx of illegal migrants to Europe.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 90,000 people crossed in to Europe, while another 2,200 died trying between July 1 and September 30 this year alone, a massive increase on crossings made earlier in the year which totaled 75,000 people and 800 deaths between January 1 and June 30. The total number people who crossed the Mediterranean before September of this year stands at 165,000, over double the number of people in 2013 which only saw an estimated 60,000 crossings.

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