Spain
22.08.03
Urgent Interventions
Spain: Expulsion of Moroccan children
Case ESP 220803.CC
CHILD CONCERN
Expulsion of Moroccan children / Best interests of the child
Follow-up to cases:
ESP021100.CC, ESP021100.1CC, ESP210801.CC, ESP061101.EE, ESP210802
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT INTERVENTION in the following situation in the autonomous community of Melilla in Spain.
Brief description of the facts
The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned about the conditions in which several Moroccan street children were expelled to Morocco from the autonomous community of Melilla in Spain during the first week of August.
According to the information received from a reliable source, as of August 22nd, 12 children, whose names are unknown, have been expelled from Melilla. During the first week of August, 5 mothers were also expelled with some of their children.
8 year old Young Milud was arrested more than two weeks ago and taken to a residential care centre (the Eladio Alonso Centre) where he resides, separated from his mother. A child care worker has been appointed to look after him all day. Milud is not allowed to leave the premises and can only remain in his room or in the collective lounge of the centre, on the grounds that he could escape. According to the information received, the boy is crying, calling for his mother, and willing to escape in order to join her.
On Friday 8th August 2003, the police detained the three teenage girls that had been in hiding since the raid. They transferred them to a residential care centre and waited for their mothers to appear. The mothers indeed came when they received the news and were allowed to cross the frontier to retrieve the girls. Before releasing them, the police threatened that they would “put them in jail for beggary” if they were to see them in Melilla again.
According to the information received, the expelled mothers and children remain in the Moroccan frontier area and wish to come back to Melilla where they have lived several years. Among the women is Milud’s mother, who intends to cross the frontier to fetch her son, but is not allowed by the Spanish police as she does not have a Moroccan passport.
Background
For the past five years, campaigns of expulsion of children living in Melilla have been initiated every year at the end of July. According to the information received, the campaign starts just one day before the annual closure of tribunals, political vacations, and the annual replacement of the prosecutor by a substitute, which makes procedures for the defence of minors problematic and postpones negotiations until the second half of September. A few days prior to the expulsions, the media initiate a campaign of “public desensitisation” asserting that street children are delinquents and that, as a “matter of great concern” and in their “best interests”, they should leave with their families. This campaign of “cleansing” of the city from street children, their families, immigrants, and prostitutes, is undertaken in the context of the city’s preparation for the Nautical Week of Melilla.
Yet, this policy of “eradication of juvenile beggary” using police forces has resulted in the separation of families as mothers have been “invited” to leave the country with some of their children, while the other children have remained alone on the street in the city. These children are finally taken to residential care centres, until their mothers come back to collect them, and are expelled together.
OMCT welcomes the fact that, unlike in previous years, the government undertook to expel these children to Morocco with guaranties of family reunification and without creating risks of torture or other inhumane and degrading treatments by the Moroccan authorities. However, the OMCT wishes to recall that, when it ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 6 December 1990, Spain committed itself to guarantee that in all its actions concerning children “the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration” (art.3 par.1) and to “ensure the rights set forth in the (..) Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s (…) national, ethnic, or social origin” (art.2 pr.1). OMCT therefore requests Spain not to expel foreign children from Melilla when this is contrary to their best interests, in particular as they are integrated in Melilla where they have lived for several years.
In the concluding observations of its session of 20 May-7 June 2002, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Spain urgently take the necessary measures in order to:
46.a) Ensure the implementation of Organizational Act 4/2000 and other laws by providing to unaccompanied foreign children access to residential care, education, emergency services and other health care, and temporary residency documents;
46.f) Provide unaccompanied foreign children with information about their rights under Spanish and international law, including the right to apply for asylum;
46.g) Take all necessary measures to improve the conditions and safety of residential centres and adequately train residential centre staff;
Actions requested:
Please write to the Spanish authorities asking them to:
i. not to expel foreign children from Melilla when this is contrary to their bests interests, in particular when they are fully integrated in Melilla;
ii. take all necessary measures to protect, educate, and rehabilitate street children and prevent their criminalisation;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards and, in particular, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses
· Dr. José María Aznar López, Presidencia del Gobierno, Palacio de la Moncloa, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 3491) 390 03 23. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 02 17. Dr. Mariano Rajoy Brey, Portavoz del Gobierno, Palacio de la Moncloa, Complejo de la Moncloa, Ed. Semillas - 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 3491) 390-0365. Fax: (+ 34 91) 335 32 91 / (+ 34 91) 321 40 30
· Dr. Carlos Aragones Mendiguchia, Director del Gabinete de la Presidencia, Complejo de la Moncloa, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 390 03 65. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 03 56
· Dr. Angel Acebes Paneagúa, Ministro del Interior, Ministerio del Interior, C. Amador de los Rios, 7, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 537 11 11. Fax: (+ 34 91) 537 10 03
· Dr. Enrique Mújica Herzog, Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoría del Pueblo, C. Eduardo Dato, 31, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 432-7900. Fax: (+ 34 91) 308 11 58
· Dr. Francisco José Hernando Santiago, Presidente del Consejo General del Poder Judicial, C. Marqués de la Ensenada, 8, 2807, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 700-6196 / 97/ 98/ 99 . Fax: (+ 34 91) 310 27 80
· Dr. Jesús Cardenal Fernández, Fiscal General del Estado, Fiscalía General de Estado, C. Fortuny, 4, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 319 49 96, Fax: (+ 34 91) 319 33 17
· Dra. Ana de Palacio Vallelersundi, Ministra de Asuntos Exteriores, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Plaza de la Provincia, 1, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 379 92 14 / 9549. Fax: (+ 34 91) 435 24 25
· Dr. José María Mechavílaia, Ministro de Justicia, Ministerio de Justicia, C. San Bernardo, 45, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 390 22 54. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 22 77 Tribunal Tutelar de Menores de Melilla, Fax: (+ 34 95) 268 05 29 .
· Misión Permanente de España ante las Naciones Unidas, Embajador Pérez-Villanueva y Tovar, Joaquín, Av. Blanc 53 - CP 201, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse,
e-mail : mission.spain@ties.itu.int, fax: (+41 22) 731 53 70
Please also write to the embassies of Spain in your respective country.
Geneva, 22 August 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
CHILD CONCERN
Expulsion of Moroccan children / Best interests of the child
Follow-up to cases:
ESP021100.CC, ESP021100.1CC, ESP210801.CC, ESP061101.EE, ESP210802
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT INTERVENTION in the following situation in the autonomous community of Melilla in Spain.
Brief description of the facts
The International Secretariat of OMCT is deeply concerned about the conditions in which several Moroccan street children were expelled to Morocco from the autonomous community of Melilla in Spain during the first week of August.
According to the information received from a reliable source, as of August 22nd, 12 children, whose names are unknown, have been expelled from Melilla. During the first week of August, 5 mothers were also expelled with some of their children.
8 year old Young Milud was arrested more than two weeks ago and taken to a residential care centre (the Eladio Alonso Centre) where he resides, separated from his mother. A child care worker has been appointed to look after him all day. Milud is not allowed to leave the premises and can only remain in his room or in the collective lounge of the centre, on the grounds that he could escape. According to the information received, the boy is crying, calling for his mother, and willing to escape in order to join her.
On Friday 8th August 2003, the police detained the three teenage girls that had been in hiding since the raid. They transferred them to a residential care centre and waited for their mothers to appear. The mothers indeed came when they received the news and were allowed to cross the frontier to retrieve the girls. Before releasing them, the police threatened that they would “put them in jail for beggary” if they were to see them in Melilla again.
According to the information received, the expelled mothers and children remain in the Moroccan frontier area and wish to come back to Melilla where they have lived several years. Among the women is Milud’s mother, who intends to cross the frontier to fetch her son, but is not allowed by the Spanish police as she does not have a Moroccan passport.
Background
For the past five years, campaigns of expulsion of children living in Melilla have been initiated every year at the end of July. According to the information received, the campaign starts just one day before the annual closure of tribunals, political vacations, and the annual replacement of the prosecutor by a substitute, which makes procedures for the defence of minors problematic and postpones negotiations until the second half of September. A few days prior to the expulsions, the media initiate a campaign of “public desensitisation” asserting that street children are delinquents and that, as a “matter of great concern” and in their “best interests”, they should leave with their families. This campaign of “cleansing” of the city from street children, their families, immigrants, and prostitutes, is undertaken in the context of the city’s preparation for the Nautical Week of Melilla.
Yet, this policy of “eradication of juvenile beggary” using police forces has resulted in the separation of families as mothers have been “invited” to leave the country with some of their children, while the other children have remained alone on the street in the city. These children are finally taken to residential care centres, until their mothers come back to collect them, and are expelled together.
OMCT welcomes the fact that, unlike in previous years, the government undertook to expel these children to Morocco with guaranties of family reunification and without creating risks of torture or other inhumane and degrading treatments by the Moroccan authorities. However, the OMCT wishes to recall that, when it ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 6 December 1990, Spain committed itself to guarantee that in all its actions concerning children “the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration” (art.3 par.1) and to “ensure the rights set forth in the (..) Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s (…) national, ethnic, or social origin” (art.2 pr.1). OMCT therefore requests Spain not to expel foreign children from Melilla when this is contrary to their best interests, in particular as they are integrated in Melilla where they have lived for several years.
In the concluding observations of its session of 20 May-7 June 2002, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Spain urgently take the necessary measures in order to:
46.a) Ensure the implementation of Organizational Act 4/2000 and other laws by providing to unaccompanied foreign children access to residential care, education, emergency services and other health care, and temporary residency documents;
46.f) Provide unaccompanied foreign children with information about their rights under Spanish and international law, including the right to apply for asylum;
46.g) Take all necessary measures to improve the conditions and safety of residential centres and adequately train residential centre staff;
Actions requested:
Please write to the Spanish authorities asking them to:
i. not to expel foreign children from Melilla when this is contrary to their bests interests, in particular when they are fully integrated in Melilla;
ii. take all necessary measures to protect, educate, and rehabilitate street children and prevent their criminalisation;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards and, in particular, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses
· Dr. José María Aznar López, Presidencia del Gobierno, Palacio de la Moncloa, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 3491) 390 03 23. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 02 17. Dr. Mariano Rajoy Brey, Portavoz del Gobierno, Palacio de la Moncloa, Complejo de la Moncloa, Ed. Semillas - 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 3491) 390-0365. Fax: (+ 34 91) 335 32 91 / (+ 34 91) 321 40 30
· Dr. Carlos Aragones Mendiguchia, Director del Gabinete de la Presidencia, Complejo de la Moncloa, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 390 03 65. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 03 56
· Dr. Angel Acebes Paneagúa, Ministro del Interior, Ministerio del Interior, C. Amador de los Rios, 7, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 537 11 11. Fax: (+ 34 91) 537 10 03
· Dr. Enrique Mújica Herzog, Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoría del Pueblo, C. Eduardo Dato, 31, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 432-7900. Fax: (+ 34 91) 308 11 58
· Dr. Francisco José Hernando Santiago, Presidente del Consejo General del Poder Judicial, C. Marqués de la Ensenada, 8, 2807, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 700-6196 / 97/ 98/ 99 . Fax: (+ 34 91) 310 27 80
· Dr. Jesús Cardenal Fernández, Fiscal General del Estado, Fiscalía General de Estado, C. Fortuny, 4, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 319 49 96, Fax: (+ 34 91) 319 33 17
· Dra. Ana de Palacio Vallelersundi, Ministra de Asuntos Exteriores, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Plaza de la Provincia, 1, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 379 92 14 / 9549. Fax: (+ 34 91) 435 24 25
· Dr. José María Mechavílaia, Ministro de Justicia, Ministerio de Justicia, C. San Bernardo, 45, 28071, Madrid. Tel.: (+ 34 91) 390 22 54. Fax: (+ 34 91) 390 22 77 Tribunal Tutelar de Menores de Melilla, Fax: (+ 34 95) 268 05 29 .
· Misión Permanente de España ante las Naciones Unidas, Embajador Pérez-Villanueva y Tovar, Joaquín, Av. Blanc 53 - CP 201, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse,
e-mail : mission.spain@ties.itu.int, fax: (+41 22) 731 53 70
Please also write to the embassies of Spain in your respective country.
Geneva, 22 August 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.