Tunisia on April 28, 2020

Spanish Interior Minister responded to the international efforts to protect migrants by deciding forcible deportation

At a time when Spanish organizations launched a call for solidarity with migrants[1], and when multiple initiatives and calls spread globally to stand by this most vulnerable group in the face of the Corona pandemic, the Spanish Minister of Interior announced that his country’s authorities are preparing to forcibly repatriate 600 Tunisian immigrants to Tunisia[2] from the Ceti Melilla immigration detention center and with the full cooperation of the Tunisian embassy in Madrid. As Mr. Fernando should rather apologize for the arbitrary detention of these migrants for long months and for endangering their lives during the last period by ignoring the recommendations of the World Health Organization and detaining people in an overcrowded center where preventive measures and health preservation conditions[3] are not respected which represented a threat to their lives and an insult to human dignity.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, that is monitoring the situation of migrants in Mellila closely:

• expresses its indignation at the Spanish Interior Minister’s statements that violate the rights of migrants and do not respect the principle of non-refoulement
• Demands to lift obfuscation and ambiguity about violations, psychological chaos and inhuman conditions that take place in Ceti Melilla centers.
• Renews its rejection of forcible deportation of all irregular migrants regardless of the reasons
• Demands that the Tunisian government openly inform the public opinion about the diplomatic mission in Madrid cooperating with the authorities to collectively and forcibly deport Tunisians
• value the position of Spanish human rights organisations and trade unions that reject the violation of migrants’ rights.
• Calls for a solution that preserves the dignity of migrants and respects human rights and international treaties.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights

The President

Abderrahmane Hedhili

[1] https://csactioncommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-and-Migrants_French.pdf

[2] https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4239937/0/los-600-inmigrantes-tunecinos-del-ceti-de-melilla-en-huelga-de-hambre-para-exigir-su-traslado-a-la-peninsula/

[3] https://www.es.amnesty.org/actua/acciones/espana-covid19-ceti-abr20/