MINELRES: UNITED: More deaths at the borders of Fortress Europe
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Thu Oct 27 14:21:42 2005
Original sender: UNITED <[email protected]>
E-NEWS 17 OCTOBER 2005: MORE DEATHS AT THE BORDERS OF FORTRESS EUROPE
CEUTA AND MELILLA ARE EUROPE'S SHUT DOORS ON AFRICA.
And beyond a high double trench, FORTRESS EUROPE sits and watches the
ongoing tragedy of the "human avalanche".
Moroccan and Spanish authorities' repression against people attempting
to enter the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta (74.00 inhabitants) and Melilla
(68.000) has killed migrants in the name of protecting European borders.
A three-meters high trench separates Africa from the vanguard of Spain:
Ceuta and Melilla. Thousands of migrants have attempted crossing the
barriers, which prevent entrance into Spain. The majority got in, but
some paid for that with their own lives. On Thursday September 29th
2005, along the double trench protecting Ceuta from the Moroccan
surroundings, FIVE MIGRANTS DIED. Another violent encounter occurred
Monday October 3rd 2005, between immigrants and Spanish border patrols.
Some 350 of them succeeded in crossing the barrier, leaving 135 persons
wounded. A total of 14 DEATHS have been documented since violence broke
out.
The humanitarian organisation MSF has completed a report, in which it
blames Moroccan police and Spanish border guards for the violent
suppression against migrants.
"These people are trapped within an unjust and unheard-of circle of
violence from both sides, the Moroccan and the Spanish side. They can't
defense themselves in any way", says one of MSF volunteers in Morocco.
The report shows no indulgence towards the EU reaction to the tragic
events.
European politicians are these days reacting in many ways. Their main
intention, though, remains the development of a common strategy to
counter "illegal" immigration, and a common legislature towards a policy
of exclusion. Morocco has been assigned, but has not yet received, �40
million from its Euro-Mediterranean partnership program to increase
surveillance of its southern borders. It is also possible that Spain
could benefit from a contribution from the plan for a Solidarity Fund
for the joint borders of the Member Sates. Morocco has already made an
agreement with Spain on the repatriation of illegal Moroccan immigrants
in Spain. The European Association for Human Rights says the Ceuta
tragedy shows that Europe�s migration policy based on repressive
measures to guarantee security is at a dead end. It calls for an urgent
debate on a European migratory policy respectful of rights, physical
integrity and people�s dignity.
The names of those who died in this attempt of entering Europe will be
added to the UNITED "FATAL REALITIES OF FORTRESS EUROPE" list of deaths,
containing now over 6300 documented death cases.
Since 1993 UNITED has monitored the deadly results of the building of a
'Fortress Europe': border militarisation, unjust asylum laws, detention
policies, deportations and carrier sanctions. They are all linked to the
carrying out of decision taken on highest political level: the Schengen
treaty, the Dublin Convention and EU border control programs.
UNITED collects data on where and under which circumstances the refugees
die. The "FATAL REALITIES OF FORTRESS EUROPE" list of deaths is
constantly being updated and, being a strong testimony of the ongoing
tragedy occurring at Europe�s borders, can be used to raise awareness,
to campaign, to lobby.
See http://www.unitedagainstracism.org - under campaigns/ refugee
campaigns
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