[imc-presse] PRESS RELEASE: UN Committee Condemns Spain: Push-Back Policy Violates Children’s Rights

[ECCHR - European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights]

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PRESS RELEASE

SPAIN OBLIGED TO AMEND LAW ON BORDER EXPULSIONS

UN COMMITTEE CONDEMNS SPAIN: PUSH-BACK POLICY VIOLATES CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

BERLIN/MADRID, 19 FEBRUARY 2019 – “This decision of the UN Committee
makes me happy. I want the whole world to know about it and that these
violations never happen again,” says D.D. from Mali. D.D. was pushed back
from Melilla to Morocco as an unaccompanied minor in December 2014. He had
climbed the border fences and entered into Spain, but the Spanish Guardia
Civil immediately apprehended and handcuffed him, then returned him to the
Moroccan forces. He was not identified as a minor and had no possibility to
see a lawyer or translator. The case of D.D. is not an exception; it is
representative of a long-standing systematic practice at the
Spanish-Moroccan border. This policy has now been strongly condemned by the
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in a decision
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37758454/63cbf554470f-pn617p
 that clearly upholds the rights of unaccompanied minors at Europe’s
borders. 

This is the first decision on push-backs by the CRC. It came in response to
a complaint submitted by D.D. in November 2015 with the support of the
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37758011/63cbf554470f-pn617p
) and Fundación Raíces
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37758455/63cbf554470f-pn617p
. The Committee found Spain’s practice to be in violation of several
provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely the best
interest of the child (Art. 3), the special protection of unaccompanied
minors (Art. 20) and the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading
treatment (Art. 37). In order to prevent similar violations in the future,
the decision obliges Spain to amend the special legal regime authorizing
automatic expulsions in Ceuta and Melilla. Furthermore, the Committee
ordered Spain to compensate for the harm suffered by the complainant.

“The decision sets a precedent for the protection of the rights of
unaccompanied minors not only at the Spanish-Moroccan border, but at land
borders in general,” said ECCHR’s partner lawyer Carsten Gericke, who
is D.D.’s legal representative. The president of Fundación Raíces
Lourdes Reyzábal added: “This case shows that Spain prioritizes
migration control over the protection of children. Spain has to stop
disregarding basic rights at the border and implement the Committee’s
demands.” 

The case of D.D. is part of a series of legal actions challenging the
push-backs
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37762141/63cbf554470f-pn617p
 at Europe’s borders. ECCHR also supports migration cases in front of the
European Court of Human Rights
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37769930/63cbf554470f-pn617p
 (ECtHR). In October 2017, the ECtHR found that Spain’s push-back
practice violates the European Convention on Human Rights (N.D. and N.T. v
Spain
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37758457/63cbf554470f-pn617p
). A final decision by the Court’s Grand Chamber is pending. 

*For further information on the case of D.D. v Spain, see:
ECCHR/Migration/Minors
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37758458/63cbf554470f-pn617p
*

*You can find the Spanish version of the press release here
https://176903.seu2.cleverreach.com/c/37769931/63cbf554470f-pn617p
.*

Contact:
ECCHR: VERA WRIEDT – Tel.: + 49(0)30 29680591, E-Mail: wriedt at ecchr.eu
mailto:wriedt at ecchr.eu

FUNDACIóN RAíCES: LOURDES REYZáBAL – Tel.: + 34 609050549; Almudena
Escorial: + 34 913882770. 
E-Mail: proyectojuridico at fundacionraices.org
mailto:proyectojuridico at fundacionraices.org

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