| MOROCCAN AND SPANISH FORCES HAVE USED EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE AT THE BORDER | THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS DECLARED THE EXPULSIONS TO BE ILLEGAL |
| Some of the human casualties of the last fifteen years were caused at Melilla's border by the excessive violence used by Moroccan military forces and the Spanish Guardia Civil. Also the violent raids on sub-Saharan migrant and refugee camps around Melilla and their deportation by Moroccan military forces have reportedly claimed the lives of several people. Little or no effort is made by Spanish or Moroccan authorities to investigate these deaths. |
| Besides this immediate threat of violence there is little chance to apply for asylum even for those refugees who have managed to climb over the border fences of Melilla. Despite having reached Spanish soil they are immediately and often violently sent back to Morocco by the Spanish Guardia Civil. | During this process the potential refugees are handed over to the Moroccan military without checking their identity and age or giving consideration to possible grounds for asylum and the circumstances they are being returned to. Therefore, the European Court of Human Rights found these push backs to be illegal. Several other institutions like the Council of Europe, the Spanish Ombudsman and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment have criticized these unlawful push backs as well. Nevertheless, push backs continue to take place to this day. |
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