Spain

Published July 10th, 2020 - written by: Carla Höppner

Basic data

Spain has 45,727,200 inhabitants and is the EU's external border on the western Mediterranean. Besides the Iberian Peninsula, Spain includes the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla (colonies on Moroccan soil), the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco and the Southern Sahara, as well as some small island groups off the Moroccan Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands east of Valencia and Barcelona. With a king as head of state, Spain is a parliamentary hereditary monarchy in a parliamentary democracy. The death of Franco in 1975 ended the dictatorship and the country entered into a process of democratisation. Until 2015, the so-called socialist party PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) and the conservative party PP (Partido Popular) alternated as popular parties in the formation of government.

Since 2011 these two large and only parties have been challenged by the population. In a broad process of politicization, the government has been scandalized by occupying squares, holding events and forming political groups. The economic crisis, which was accompanied by countless job cuts and high unemployment, was widely questioned, and austerity policies were criticized en masse. This commitment led to the formation of new parties, including Podemos, and local left-wing municipal governments, for example in the metropolises of Madrid and Barcelona, which expanded the political repertoire in the Spanish government landscape. Since then, the PP and PSOE have been unable to gain majorities, and after several government crises there have already been four parliamentary elections since the end of 2015. At the end of 2019, negotiations took place to form a coalition between the PSOE and Podemos, which were, however, dependent on the approval of other parties in order to form a government and to postpone legislation. With a very narrow majority, the Spanish Parliament approved the government of the PSOE and Podemos in January 2020.

Government practice and historical data with relevance to migration

Spain is a prime example of porous borders. For although the country has been considered a prototype for European migration control since the 1990s, the borders could never be completely closed. Both the movements of migrants and the political constellation repeatedly questioned the border regime, most recently in 2018 when Spain was once again the country with the most arrivals in Europe.

Migration management under Zapatero and Rajoy

Since 2004, particularly under the Socialist government (PSOE) of Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, cooperation between Spain, the EU and Morocco has been stepped up against so-called illegal immigration. EU migration management has thus been rapidly consolidated in the Moroccan-Spanish border region. The discourse in Spain moved between the armament of border controls, development aid and the demand for human rights. With the help of financial concessions and visa facilitation, Spain established the European border regime through repatriation agreements with many relevant countries of origin and transit. Since December 2011 the conservative head of government Rajoy (PP) has continued this line.

However, whether it be via the fences to Ceuta and Melilla, the sea routes to Malaga, Granada, Cadiz or the Canary Islands, people on the move on the western Mediterranean route continue to implement their right to freedom of movement and resist surveillance systems.

58,569 Bozas in 2018! People on the move reach Spain more successfully than ever before

Rhetorically, Spain's government proudly proclaimed its successes in preventing and controlling illegal migration, while the number of people arriving in Spain varies constantly. In the summer of 2018, Spain was once again the country with the most successful arrivals, often hailed by people on the move with the exclamation "Boza".

Although the western Mediterranean route was generally less frequented than the central Mediterranean route and the Aegean Sea, according to official UNHCR statistics alone, 22,103 people successfully reached the Spanish coast in 2017. This was already almost three times as many people as in the previous year. In 2018, the route to Spain became the main route to Europe with 58,569 people. Until October 20, 2019 another 25,191 people arrived in Europe via Spain - significantly less people than in 2018, but still more than in 2017 and the years before.

At the same time, migrants in Morocco are often used by the Spanish authorities as evidence of the masses of illegal immigrants that they allegedly prevented from continuing their journey to Spain. Statistics for the EU include the number of arrests, even if the same person is recorded by the police ten times or more.

"They arrested me at home in the Boukhalef district of Tangier. And although Tangier has its own police station, they transported me all the way to Cassiago to register me there, to take photos and fingerprints for Europe. At the police station in Cassiago they claimed that they had caught me at the border. I asked them why they were saying that and the police officers replied that they did not know, but were doing their job and following their instructions. That is the system of power. Now they will send the material to Europe and claim that they have secured the border. In doing so, they took me out of my apartment. They do that to lots of people." (Interview with Fadel Fall, Tangier)

Sanchez government since 2018

With the Spanish summer of successful migration in 2018, another socialist, Pedro Sanchez, took over the government in June. On taking office, he led solidarity rallies for the rights of people at sea in a major media campaign and in June 2018 agreed to the one-off reception of refugees from the rescue ship Aquarius. He also announced that the razor-sharp blades of barbed wire, which have been the subject of criticism for years as they cause serious injuries and sometimes even death, will be removed from the fences of Ceuta and Melilla.

A little later, NGO boats like Aita Mari and the Open Arms were banned from assisting in rescue operations in Spain. Nor do the NGOs get permission from the Spanish government to operate in the central Mediterranean.

situation-at-the-frontier-Spanien-300x184.jpg

With the dismantling of the barbed wire fences on the Spanish side of the border, new barbed wire fences were simultaneously being used on the Moroccan side with European funds. Work on the Moroccan fence began shortly after the European Union agreed to pay the Maghreb country 10 million euros for "cooperation and development".

Militarisation of the Coast Guard

Sanchez was, above all, the one who has drastically militarized the institutions for the reception of migrants by handing over the supreme command of rescue operations and reception centres to the Guardia Civil. The Guardia Civil is the best-known actor of the border regime in Spain and is known for harshness and arbitrariness. As former loyal allies of Franco, it eliminated any emancipated voices. The historical crimes of the Guardia Civil have hardly been dealt with in Spanish society.

Salvamento Marrítimo is the only European coast guard in the Mediterranean that operates under civil rather than military command. It is under the Ministry of Development.

The Social Democratic Prime Minister Zapatero tried to militarise the Salvamento Marrítimo as early as 2006. Sanchez realized these plans in 2018 with the establishment of a sole command (mando único) of the Guardia Civil over Salvamento Marritimo and the Red Cross.

Deaths in the western Mediterranean

Just in 2017, 250 people lost their lives trying to reach Spain. In 2018, the number of deaths produced by the border regime in the western Mediterranean has risen to 1,064 persons. The Spanish government seems to be indifferent to the grief of countless friends and family members. The number of shipwrecks has increased with the Civil Guard's sealing off command over Salvamento Marrítimo, whose task it is to save lives. The coast guard Salvamento Marrítimo responds to fewer and fewer distress calls at sea and instead calls the Moroccan military to intercept the boats. The policy of the Moroccan Marine Royal  intercepting people on the move has fatal consequences - on the one hand because they often do not respond to emergency calls; on the other hand because they are not a rescue institution and dead bodies are repeatedly produced during a rescue by the military Marine Royal.

"The worst thing is when you have the Navy Royal before you [...]. They even come into Spanish waters to take us back to Morocco from there [...]. The Navy Royal guards the water and the thing they are most interested in is us. And when they come to take us, the water makes waves from their big boat. With the rubber dinghy, it is then possible that we might tip over. That's dangerous, if you're not lucky, if you don't have a life jacket or a swim ring, you'll die. Because they will not protect you, they will not intervene. People are very scared the moment the big boat of the Marine Royal comes in. We've had cases like this: people who fell in the water in front of the Moroccan Navy. But the biggest problem is that then we have no bodies to identify them. We can't make a complaint. So often people come back from the water and say that a person is missing, that this person fell into the water when the navy came to intercept them." (Interview with Fadel Fall, Tangier)

In 2019, the death rate was extremely high despite far fewer persons making the journey than in the previous year. 655 people drowned because of the border regime.

Push-Backs and Express Deportations

Similarly paradoxical was Sanchez's handling of the law "ley mordaza" introduced by the conservative Rajoy government, popularly known as the "gagging law", as it includes the criminalization of numerous democratic rights such as freedom of expression. It legalises, among other things, push-backs from Ceuta and Melilla. The law violates international and EU law, but nevertheless Spain is trying to apply it. Sanchez originally wanted to abolish the law and the push-backs, but instead he was illegally applying a 1992 agreement to return fugitives to Morocco without any checks. These so-called express deportations, like the push backs, are a drastic violation of the rights of migrants. In October 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg condemned the long-standing practice of push backs as illegal. In February 2019, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned Spain once again for the push back practice. In the current practice, Spain illegally pushes back to Morocco all men arriving in Ceuta and Melilla who do not explicitly request asylum  within 24 hours. The problem is that those arriving are not informed of their rights. Furthermore, applying for asylum in Ceuta and Melilla extremely restricts the freedom of movement, because some asylum seekers have to wait for years in the open-air prison of the small enclaves until their case is decided. The latter practice is also illegal, but appeals against it take years as well.

The 1992 agreement could not be applied in the past, or only in certain cases, such as the Chafarinas Islands or the island of Perejil. Morocco refused to accept the application of the bilateral agreement with Spain, partly because of the non-recognition of the borders with the Spanish enclaves, which are considered to be occupied cities. With the payments that Morocco has received in terms of cooperation and development, as well as tens of millions of euros that the EU is making available to strengthen border controls, the position from Rabat on the agreement is changing. The socialist government is now using this agreement as one of the axes of its migration policy.

CIEs - Detention Centers

With the deportation prisons, the discourse and practice of the Sanchez government also contradicts itself. At the beginning of the legislative period, the government denied opening new CIEs (Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros), but it changed its mind. In the meantime, the CIEs have become another axis of its migration policy. Budget items are being redesigned to increase the number of places in existing CIEs and to create new ones, with the aim of detaining migrants until their deportation.

Right-wing populism

With such a mainstream policy of disenfranchisement, imprisonment and criminalisation of fugitives, it is not surprising that a right-wing extremist party is also establishing itself in Spain. The right-wing populists previously housed in the conservative wing of the PP have been organising themselves under the name of Vox since December 2013 and have enjoyed electoral success since 2018, the last of which was the general election in November 2019, in which Vox emerged as the third strongest party with 15%.

Migration movements

"We want to come to Europe and we've decided that, so nothing can stop us. That's the way it is." (Interview with Fadel Fall, Tangier)

There are different routes to Spain: The Mediterranean route to the Andalusian coast, the boat trip to the small islands off the coast of the Rif mountains, the route across the sea or the route over the fences to the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, the crossing from Tangier towards Tarifa via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.

Depending on where the people arrive, they have different chances depending on age, sex and nationality. After their arrival, all migrants are detained and registered for 72 hours in closed initial reception prisons, the so-called CATEs (Centros de Atención Temporal de Extranjeros) or in police stations. In 2018 a CATE opened in Algeciras, and in 2019 also in Malaga.

For many, Spain traditionally served as a transit country, but few applied for asylum because the asylum system was extremely arbitrary and, with a few exceptions, did not exist until 2018. However, a regularisation possibility, which does not exist in other EU countries, plays an important role. Via the so-called law of rootedness (Arraigo Social), migrants can apply for a residence permit if they can show proof of a three-year (irregular) stay in the country as well as an employment contract.

Nationalities

Since 2017, more people from Morocco, especially from the Rif region, have been arriving in Spain. Since autumn 2016 there have been social protests in the particularly disadvantaged region of Morocco, the Rif mountains, about the expansion of the infrastructure of necessary hospitals, schools and means of transport. The Moroccan state reacted with harsh repression, forcing many people to flee their homes. But in other regions, too, life prospects are so poor that many choose life-threatening crossings by boat or climbing the fences into the enclaves.

In 2017, just under 40% of all arrivals were from the Maghreb states, with around 50% coming from sub-Saharan Africa. If we look at individual countries in the order of the largest groups of refugees arriving in Spain, most are from Morocco, Algeria, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Syria.

In 2018 Malians were the third largest group of all arrivals, while the arrivals of Algerians and especially Syrians were decreasing.

In 2019, the largest group of refugees in Spain continued to be Moroccans with about 30% of all arrivals up to and including September 2019, followed by Guineans with 13%, Algerians with 12% and Malians with 11% of all arrivals.

Ceuta and Melilla

The people in the Maghreb who try to access the Spanish enclaves in Africa do so in various ways: hidden in vehicles, swimming or with passports from the provinces of Tetouan and Nador. These people usually do not go to the reception centre CETI (Centro de Estancia Temporal de Inmigrantes) because they know that it can take years to get a "laisser-passer", a permit and a ticket to the mainland by ferry. This is the reason why the majority of Moroccans and Algerians decide to risk their lives again to get to the Spanish mainland by hiding under a truck or swimming to a ferry. There are also trips by dinghy from the enclaves to the Iberian Peninsula.

EU Commitment

Surveillance systems and border coordination

In 1999, the 200 million euro SIVE coastal surveillance system was set up on the Spanish coast with radar, infrared sensors, boats, helicopters and aircrafts. SIVE installed, among other things, border equipment, biometric data collection systems and portable thermal imaging cameras along the western migration route to the EU.

Since 2006, EU-funded coordination centres have been in place to coordinate maritime operations among different countries and actors. In order to prevent the departure of migrant boats in North and West African states and their arrival in Spain and the EU, these centers promote the efficient exchange of information between, among others, governments, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, the secret services, the military, the police, the Guardia Civil and the maritime rescue services. The training of border guards on Moroccan territory was also part of the cooperation, namely in the Seahorse project.

The EU border surveillance initiative Eurosur, which applies to the whole of Europe, followed shortly afterwards. Eurosur's objective is similar to that of the coordination centres, which are now part of Eurosur and have been set up in various countries under the direction of The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).

Due to the flagship model of border control, the number of migrants who initially successfully made it to Spain fell dramatically between 2006 to 2010. However, from 2010 to 2018, arrivals have risen continuously. 

European Neighbourhood Policy

At the European level, the Moroccan European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is implemented by the EU-Morocco Action Plan. The EU is thus following Spain's example of a policy of financial concessions in the form of development aid and upgraded border controls. Since 2014, the Neighbourhood Policy has been financed with 1 billion euros. In addition to this, 236 million euros have been spent on migration policy, especially on so-called border management and the fight against smuggling.

Since 2018, EU-Morocco cooperation to combat migration has been strengthened by the Rabat process, which has been in place since 2006. In 2018 alone, a total of 148 million euros was paid by the EU to Morocco. In regular meetings in Rabat, the militarisation and war against migrants were discussed and planned. Spain's Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska and Morocco's Interior Minister Abdeluati Latfit met seven times between 2018 and 2019. In August 2019, Spain's government once again allocated 32 million euros to Morocco to strengthen the border regime. The EU discourse continues to be based on combating so-called smuggling activities.

In Morocco, the crossings are not subject to a hierarchical large-scale organisation, but are instead often organised by people on the move themselves. This is due to a lack of visas or legal ways to travel. The authorities paid by the EU to combat smuggling are themselves involved in this business.

"I know a man who works for the Navy Royal [Moroccan Navy, anti-migration at sea]. He comes to Boukhalef [a district in Tangier, northern Morocco] every day to sell zodiacs [inflatable boats], paddles and pumps. The whole institution Navy Royal knows that this is how business is done. And they profit extra from catching us. If the Marine Royal intercepts a boat with an engine, the police will not even see the engine. They won't tell the police that they've intercepted a convoy with an engine [...]. Between them they make the decision to sell the Zodiac and they divide the money among themselves. They will intercept you, but they won't go to the police with all the confiscated goods.” (Interview with Alioune Dione, Tangier)

The EU further claims that the funding allocated to Morocco is for the protection of migrant women in need. This is a complete mistruth the more money Morocco receives, the more violent is the incitement against migrant women. Border security and control, and the goals of the EU, go hand in hand with the massive violations of the rights of migrants. 

Frontex

Frontex, as one of the main actors of the European border regime, has been in operation in Spain since 2004. They have been especially present on the Atlantic route, though less visible, since the Guardia Civil is the dominant actor in the West Mediterranean region. The Guardia Civil operated both as a Spanish unit and on behalf of Frontex or Seahorse on the high seas and coastal waters. The combination of national, international, and European border patrols leads to a lack of transparency. The Frontex missions in Spain are called Hera, Índalo and Minerva. Since 2019, Frontex has also been clearly recognisable as a European border player in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, and is currently deployed with 180 people from various European countries.

Readmission Agreements

Spain is also a pioneer for the EU in agreements with African countries. As early as 2003, Spain concluded an agreement with Mauritania; this agreement allowed people from other countries, such as Senegal or Mali, to be deported to Mauritania. People were taken to different places on the Mauritanian border. Before deportation they were locked up for an unlimited period of time in a centre built with Spanish funds, the "little Guantánamo" in Nouadhibou. There was neither legal assistance nor interpreters for the migrants. Similar arrangements were made with Senegal. According to the government's answer to a request by the Senator of Bildu, Jon Iñarritu García, in 2017, more than 168 million euros were spent in the previous twelve years on the policy of "cooperation" with these countries.

The EU is also currently discussing such a readmission agreement with Morocco. The EU wants to be able to return people who use Morocco as a transit country to Europe as quickly and easily as possible. So far, the Moroccan government has not agreed to the plan, particularly because the Moroccan demand for visa facilitation has not been accepted in the EU.

(More information on the many existing readmission agreements in the last report)

The fences of Ceuta and Melilla

In 2005, the construction of the fences began, first in Ceuta, then in Melilla. The installation and maintenance costs of over 40 million euros could not prevent people from entering the Spanish territories. Despite more and more fences being built - one after the other, increasingly taller and evermore dangerous to scale -  arrivals in the enclaves are nonetheless increasing. The result of these metal fences and their sharp blades is violent injuries - cuts all over the body, torn arms, hands and legs of migrants. People continue to die trying to cross the fences.

What are the economic interests? Who benefits?

In addition to the aforementioned financing in the western Mediterranean, the Horizon 2020 programme should be mentioned. Horizon 2020 is an EU funding programme for research and innovation that has been running since 2014, and is to run until 2020. Border technology and research is thus additionally funded throughout Europe. The highest level of funding is in Spain. Almost 500 million euros will be distributed for the protection of external (289.4 million euros) and internal borders (195.4 million euros) according to the European Commission.

Journalist Marta Molina has produced some very interesting studies on the biggest beneficiaries of border management in Spain. The four Spanish companies Indra, Mora Salazar, GMV and Atos are doing big business with Europe's border security.

Indra

One of the world's leading defence companies, Indra benefits mainly from Frontex's investments. The EU Lobbying Transparency Register documents that the company has spent 1.5 million euros to influence European policy on border defence. Indra is very successful in promoting research and development in the field of border security.

In 2015, the multinational company spent 540 million euros on defence, 19% of its total income.

The same year, Indra developed the technical equipment for surveillance flights worth 10 million euros. Another 48,179 euros was invoiced for the improvement of satellite communications. The company, chaired by Fernando Abril-Martorell, is one of the most frequent recipients of EU-funded research projects.

Isdefe

The state-owned Isdefe has also earned over eight million euros in six European projects. In 2012, the Defence Ministry company received 75,000 euros for a study on the possible use of a drone in border surveillance, and 134,400 euros in 2014 for the development of specialised technologies.

GMV

GMV, another important Spanish giant, received a total of 16 million euros between 2012 and 2015 for the development and maintenance of Eurosur, the European border surveillance system, plus 243,000 euros for the development of new software.

GMV earns well from Eurosur and will continue to do so, as shown by the Horizon 2020 plan, which foresees an investment in Eurosur of 244 million euros.

Atos

The Spanish division of the French technology company Atos has earned 578,378 euros in Frontex and 29 million euros in SIVE, as well as two million euros in equipment for ships.

The fencing market

The fence systems of Ceuta were built in 2005 by the company Dragados, costing 18 million euros. The Ferrovial company then earned another 8 million euros with a maintenance contract until 2014.

The fences of Melilla were even more expensive. The company Indra is also dominant in this area and has earned 21 million euros with the construction, and 6 million euros for maintenance.

The fences with the razor-sharp blades, called "concertinas", are made by the Mora Salazar Group, which claims to be the largest company for these items. The blades are criticized by NGOs and even by the EU, but have already been used in Hungary, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey. The “concertinas” in Melilla cost 700,000 euros, those in Ceuta 405,000 euros.

Airbus triumphs with profits from border defence

The company that, according to a study by Yago Álvarez and Genoveva López, has won the most in the Spanish border defence market is Airbus. From 2009 to 2019, Airbus earned 524 million euros in Spanish migration control. Among other things, they sold helicopters and aircrafts to the Guardia Civil, ground equipment, and other border control technology.

Who gains from deportations?

The big beneficiaries of the deportation business were Air Europa and Swiftair. Between them they shared up to 30 million between 2011 and 2016 to carry out deportations. The most expensive deportation flight in Spain was registered in 2014, when three people were deported for 156,803€.

The business with the CIEs

In Spain, the general responsibility for the management of detention centres lies with the public administration. Certain areas, such as health, are outsourced to external companies or NGOs. The costs of maintaining these centres are as unknown and unreported as the centres themselves. The Member of Parliament Ione Belarra Urteaga, after an information request to the government in the summer of 2017, received the answer that the budget for 2017 was 1,275,000 euros.

Resistance

Civil society in action

The largest anti-racist demonstration in Europe against European migration policy took place on 18 February 2017 in Barcelona. 300,000 participants took to the streets in support of refugees, safe escape routes, and freedom of movement.

With the continuously increasing number of arrivals in Spain, civil society is mobilising. There are both activists who have been active in the field of migration for many years (some of whom have already been involved in the anti-racist movement of 2006), as well as many new groups and individuals getting involved. In 2018, in view of the very limited state reception structure, they are rapidly organising a broad network of activists, social workers, NGOs, lawyers, translators and journalists to welcome migrants. In the Andalusian ports of Almeria, Cadiz but especially in Motril, the arrivals are welcomed and provided with information. A “welcome2Spain-guide” is published and small booklets with useful information and contact points are distributed throughout Spain. State spaces of dignified reception are demanded by the welcome initiatives. In some places in Catalonia and the Basque Country, houses are occupied where migrants are accommodated and where the movement organizes itself.

CIEs No

“CIEs No” is a Spanish-wide network of collectives and individuals who fight for the rights of migrant women and are active in many cities. Since 2010, the group CIEs No has been active in the abolition of detention centres (CIEs) and deportations from Spain. Due to the scandal of the clandestine conditions within the centres, a court decision in 2011 has authorised the access of individuals and groups. The detainees thus have at least visitation rights. In Malaga a CIE was closed as a result of continuous protest.

Labor and Migration

SOC/SAT

Almería in southern Spain produces a large part of the vegetables marketed in Europe. The local agriculture is competitive due to extreme exploitation, cheap jobs, and the exploitation of the disenfranchised situation of illegal workers. The grassroots union SOC/SAT stands up for the rights of migrant workers, scandalizes racism and supports the workers in the enforcement of legal employment contracts and regularization. In September 2019, agricultural workers went on strike in Almería and demanded payment of the minimum wage.

Strawberries from Huelva

In Huelva, the migrant seasonal workers of the strawberry harvest exchanged information with the feminist coordination of Andalusia about their working conditions, which include a wide range of violent and precarious working practices, from sexual abuse to non-payment of wages. The feminist coordination of Andalusia supports legal action of the seasonal workers and demands, among other things, a strawberry boycott in solidarity with the seasonal workers of Huelva.

The struggles of the domestic workers

In 2019, the often illegalised domestic helpers and care workers in private households joined the organisation of the international women strike movement in Spain for the second time. They contributed testimonies of their experiences to the debate and reported on the exploitative and exclusionary conditions that are further enhanced by the migration regime, the legislation on foreigners, and the denial of citizenship in a neo-colonial manner. Furthermore, they articulated their concrete demands for the right to pension and unemployment insurance, as all other workers in Spain are entitled to.

Siberian manta

In the summer of 2015, the Sindicato Popular de Vendedores Ambulantes de Barcelona was born in the struggle for the rights of the manteros (those who sell from the ceiling). They conducted political negotiations against the punishment of street selling and demanded the right to rights, papers, participation, and permission to work.

Two years after its foundation, the self-organized group managed to implement its own rights by developing and producing its own brand of clothes. The Top Manta brand is a complete success. Since 2017, the grassroots union has had its own premises in Barcelona, where you can get clothes with slogans like "Legal clothes - Illegal people" or "Fake System - True Clothes". The Manteros thus make their precarious situation visible, create legal jobs for themselves, and fight for social rights for all.

For further information

Statistics and Numbers:

  • https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean/location/5226
  • https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/72158
  • https://www.laenderdaten.info/Europa/Spanien/fluechtlinge.php

Court decisions on Push-Backs:

  • https://www.ecchr.eu/nc/en/press-release/un-committee-condemns-spain-push-back-policy-violates-childrens-rights/
  • Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Morocco on the movement of persons, transit and readmission of aliens who have entered illegally, signed in Madrid on 13 February 1992 URL: https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1992-8976

EU-Moroccan financial agreements:

  • https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/de/IP_18_6705
  • https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/western_med_route-rev.pdf

Border business:

  • https://martamolina.org/2016/10/22/cuatro-empresas-espanolas-entre-las-que-controlan-el-negocio-de-la-seguridad-en-las-fronteras/
  • https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/secure-societies-%E2%80%93-protecting-freedom-and-security-europe-and-its-citizens

APDHA Infomes Frontrera Sur 2017-2019:

  • https://www.apdha.org/media/informe-frontera-sur-2017-web.pdf
  • https://www.apdha.org/media/informe-frontera-sur-2018-web.pdf
  • https://www.apdha.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/informe-frontera-sur-2019-web.pdf

Struggle, resistance and solidarity:

  • https://manteros.org
  • https://w2eu.info/spain.en.html
  • https://alarmphone.org/en/2019/11/12/the-hidden-battlefield/?post_type_release_type=post

Further articles and reports:

  • https://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/acuerdo-readmision-migrantes-Marruecos-magrebies_0_807369599.html
  • https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/11/286889/spain-morocco-eu-irregular-migration/

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