Brussels, 10/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 April, the European Commission announced that it had taken note of the new Spanish law on the security of the citizens, which contains, amongst other things, provisions on how to deal with illegal migrants crossing from Morocco to Spain via the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The Commission is currently assessing the compliance of this law, which was adopted by the Spanish parliament on 26 March and which will enter into force on 1 July, with the European texts, in particular directives 2005/85/EC (procedure for granting and withdrawing refugee status) and 2008/115/EC (procedures for the returns of illegal migrants), according to the spokesperson to European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. He is planning to visit Ceuta and Melilla, “most likely in April”, as he pledged to do when he took up his position in the European Commission in October of last year.
The Spanish law in question has come under fire from a number of associations and the Council of Europe, but it has also been called into question by the European Commission as it would initially legalise summary expulsions of migrants crossing the borders of the enclaves to reach Spanish soil. Following these protests, the draft law was revised and now provides that asylum applications can be made and studied from the official Moroccan check-points, but that the applications will not be admissible if the borders are crossed, which has not been enough to appease all of the fears of the organisations, including the Council of Europe. (Solenn Paulic)