He Home Office This Friday, he defended the legality of the application of hot returns migrants at the border recalling the approval of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Constitutional Court following the government’s agreement with EH Bildu to reform the Gag law.
According to the ministry headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the rejection at the border is a “constitutional action which respects international regulations on human rights and international protection, approved by the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court.
In this sense, the ministry indicated that the agreement announced this Thursday by EH Bildu consists of referring this question to the Immigration law to regulate this legal figure for returns. It will be in this norm, and not in the Gag Law, that the most appropriate formulation will be given after a careful and rigorous study which will be carried out during the six months following the approval of the new law on citizen security”, we specify from the Interior.
The agreement between the PSOE and Sumar with EH Bildu refers to the commitment to include a new provision in Organic Law 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration which, he says, ” must recognize and guarantee the rights of migrants and ensure that asylum applications are processed in accordance with human rights provisions and international protection regulations.
“Therefore”, adds the agreement with EH Bildu, “the certification and identification of persons potentially seeking asylum and the assessment of their access to requests for international protection must be carried out in the places provided for this purpose in the border crossings before possible expulsion proceedings”.
Returns to the border or Barajas
Interior Ministry sources consulted by Europe Press are thus referred to February 2020 decision in which the ECtHR, based in Strasbourg, changed its criteria for approving so-called hot returns at the Spanish border, thereby overturning its 2017 conviction against Spain for these practices.
The European Court considered that the complainant migrants “put themselves in a situation of illegality by deliberately attempting to enter Spain through the Melilla barrier”, as well as by not using official entry procedures, request for asylum, the rejection was therefore “a consequence of his own conduct”.
In practice, the government of Pedro Sánchez regularly carries out these returns to the border with Morocco, within the border perimeter of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as with inadmissible people who attempt to enter Spain through Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airportas is the case of the group of Sahrawis who announced a hunger strike a few days ago to protest against the rejection of the Spanish authorities.
In 2020, the Constitutional Court also approved the Gag law, which notably provides for the return of migrants who entered Spain irregularly, and He only declared recording security forces without authorization unconstitutional.rejecting the challenges launched by the PSOE and other parties.
According to constitutional doctrine, “refoulement at the border is a material act of a coercive nature, the aim of which is to immediately reestablish the legality transgressed by the attempt of foreigners to irregularly cross the land border”.
In this way, the Constitutional Court approved the police actions to carry out the returns, “without prejudice to the judicial control that can be carried out by virtue of the actions and means filed, in each specific case, by the foreign person”.
That is to say, it emphasizes that this refusal had to be accompanied by “guarantees for foreigners as recognized by international standards, agreements and treaties ratified by Spain, and that entry procedures legal in Spanish territory must be real and effective”.
From Sumar and other government partnersIn fact, where the emphasis is precisely on the lack of means to guarantee legal procedures for entry into Spain, since the Constitutional Court has also warned that Spain should “pay particular attention to vulnerable people”, mentioning minors, pregnant women or the elderly.
A constitutional law
Since EH Bildu announced the agreement to reform the Gag Law, the Ministry of the Interior has indicated that it is a commitment of the government of Pedro Sánchez and part of the Action Plan for Democracy. Furthermore, he promised that the new rule would be “modern and clearly aligned with constitutional values.”
In any case, the department led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska avoided assessing the criticism from police sectors and opposition groups regarding the agreement with EH Bildu, particularly on the point that promises to “end the use rubber bullets, replacing them with bullets”. less harmful means”, as well as the article that reduces fines for disobedience to authority from serious to minor.
According to Interior, “the goal is to have modern law, unequivocally aligned with constitutional values.” In this sense, they referred to the words of the Vice President of the Government, Maria Jesus Monteroto emphasize that “the time has come to speak to all groups to promote the parliamentary process, if there is a consensus to do so”.
Failed negotiation
That of rubber balls This is the key point which prevented the agreement on the reform of the “gag law” which the PP had approved in 2015 by an absolute majority. The Pedro Sánchez government’s project faced opposition from police unions and Civil Guard associations, who took to the streets because they were suspicious of a legislative change negotiated with Bildu and ERC.
Bildu and ERC demanded the elimination of rubber bullets, imitating the agreement of the Parliament of Catalonia which restricts this anti-riot material for the Mossos d’Esquadra, who resorted to ‘mousse’. The Police and Civil Guard can use these rubber bullets in their devices, including those developed in this autonomous community.
“The use of rubber bullets will end and their replacement with less harmful means,” states Bildu’s agreement with the PSOE and Sumar, which also includes an additional provision that mentions the authorities’ commitment to “develop protocols specific” on the use of these bullets. strength to avoid “irreparable injury”.
