EU pushes for Morocco migrant deal despite safety doubts
TERESA KÜCHLER
07.10.2005 @ 20:11 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - NGOs have accused the Moroccan authorities of dumping immigrants in the middle of the Sahara desert, while Brussels continues to put pressure on Rabat to sign-up to an EU-wide immigrant repatriation deal.
A "technical mission" of EU officials flew to the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in North Africa on Friday to investigate illegal immigration patterns and evaluate the gravity of last week's clashes, which left 10 immigrants dead.
Can Morocco be considered safe after NGOs find people dumped in desert? (Photo: European Commission)
A commission spokesman the same day reiterated that pressure is being put on Morocco to re-admit Sub-Saharan immigrants.
But Brussels' comment came just as Medecins sans Frontieres announced that over 500 mostly Sub-Saharan immigrants had been found "in bad shape" in the desert area of Auoina-Souatar near the Morocco-Algerian border, with the NGO claiming that they had been abandoned there by the Moroccan authorities.
Volunteers of another international NGO, SOS Racisme, said 24 immigrants, out of which many had previously applied for asylum in Spain, had died of thirst in similar circumstances.
On top of this, Javier Sancho of Medecins sans Frontieres told EUobserver that several of the immigrants had "injuries of the kind that are inflicted by sticks or hits, or by the rubber batons used by Spanish border police".
Morocco on the "safe countries" list
Morocco has signed an agreement with Spain on the repatriation of illegal Moroccan immigrants from Spain.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is urging Morocco to sign another EU-wide agreement on the repatriation of third country citizens.
This would cover Sub-Saharan immigrants that entered the EU through Morocco.
Morocco is on a draft "list of safe countries" - drawn up by the commission - that immigrants can be safely sent back to
But so far, the European Parliament has opposed these plans, claiming that Morocco is not to be trusted as a "safe country".
NGOs also criticised the fact that the commission wants Morocco on the "safe" list after their findings in the desert.
"The EU countries should not send immigrants to any country that does not have the capacity to receive immigrants, let alone guarantee their basic human rights", the Medecins sans Frontieres spokesman said.
Medecins sans Frontieres in a press release said it had seen no sites in Morocco which resemble a detention camp.
The NGO added that the Moroccan treatment of immigrants is in breach of the Geneva Charter on Human Rights - as is the Spanish expulsion of immigrants to Morocco.
A commission spokesman on Friday declined to comment on the alleged "dumping" of immigrants in the desert by Morocco, saying Brussels would respond after its technical mission came back on Monday.
He did not exclude that the mission would visit the desert area concerned.
The technical mission consists of officials from the commission's external relations and justice and home affairs directorates, as well as from the Warsaw-based EU External Borders Agency.
The number of immigrants who have died during attempts to jump from the walls that surround Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla rose from four to ten on Thursday night after another assault.