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Madrid / AFP
Amnesty International on Tuesday denounced conditions for migrants arriving in Spain’s overseas territories of Melilla and Ceuta, where they said asylum rights were not always respected.
After interviewing some 50 people in both north African enclaves that neighbour Morocco, the group said migrants who arrived there had at times experienced police abuse.
Ceuta and Melilla are favoured entry points for African migrants seeking to get to Europe, who attempt to climb over complex border systems made of high fences which they sometimes hang on to for hours, or swim along the coast. Spanish and Moroccan authorities have been cooperating to prevent migrants crossing from the African side of the borders into the enclaves.
“There are videos where you can see how Moroccan police hit (migrants)… make them fall and send them away,” Amnesty said, adding that Spanish officers turned a blind eye.
Once in Spanish territory, migrants are taken to temporary detention centres used to hold people while officials decide whether or not they will be deported, but the journey is far from over.