“The southern border of Spain has been the migration laboratory of Europe (…) Every year there have been negotiations with Morocco over the control of the border; in fact, every year, if you’ve been watching closely, there have been moments in which people have jumped the fence because Moroccan soldiers softened, under orders from the government, because there was going to be a meeting between Spain and Morocco. In the case of the Spanish State, there were a lot of people who threw up their hands: oh god, how can we outsource the borders? Well, pardon me, but really, Spain has been doing this for a long time. And we’re talking about the immigration policy of PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español); if I’m remembering correctly, the first “shameful directive” (directiva de la vergüenza) that happened in Europe was while PSOE was in office and it was the directive with which they created the Immigrant Detention Centers, where they detain people for up to 60 days in subhuman conditions. So, it’s not a surprise, because for the Spanish State, the southern border is an experiment of penal, illegal, and immoral treatment of immigration.”
Source: Pasaje Seguro, Cantabria
The following entry is taken from the source: “Externalización de fronteras: Unión Europea y asilo.” Diccionario de Asilo. CEAR. https://diccionario.cear-euskadi.org/externalizacion-de-fronteras/.
“The outsourcing of borders is a phenomenon that is characterized by an architecture of complementary policies that, together, have the objective of displacing the management of European exterior borders to the South in order to prevent the arrival of refugees and immigrants. It seeks to stop irregular immigration through subcontracting immigration control to third-party countries, creating a buffer zone and acquiring a presence in strategic places, whether it be for geopolitical reasons or economic interests.
Some of these policies are: a) Visa requirements: it poses the first obstacle for refugees. In order to enter the Spanish State, a visa is required for people coming from 134 States and territories, in which are found all those of Africa, a total of 53. This fact, in addition to the elimination- by the Ley de Asilo (Asylum Act)- of the possibility of applying for asylum through diplomatic routes, reduces even more the resources that people can use to gain access to international protection; b) Militarization of borders and reinforcement by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX); c) Signing of return and readmission agreements; d) Detention Centers in third-party countries (for example, the detention center at Nouadhibou); e) Impermeability of european borders (walls and fences, control mechanisms, physical obstacles to seeking asylum, etc.); f) Privatization of immigration control through the imposition on transport companies of obligations to control documentation of passengers, with the risk of fines if breached.” (CEAR).
References CEAR-Euskadi (2010): Desplazamientos forzados: los Derechos Humanos desde la perspectiva del Derecho de Asilo. Reivindicaciones y propuestas de cambio. Comisión de Ayuda al Refugiado en Euskadi, Bilbao. Migreurop (2013): Boletín nº 2, abril de 2013.
by Pasaje Seguro and CEAR
