• Home /
• Statewatch Database /
• Ceuta & Melilla immigrants moved to Spain

Ceuta & Melilla immigrants moved to Spain

01 January 1997

The Spanish government has been attempting to calm the explosive situation which has developed in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, where some 700 undocumented immigrants have been held in tented reception centres in deplorable conditions. According to the Red Cross there have already been 13 known cases of scabies and nine of tuberculosis. Mindful of the public protests which followed the summary expulsion to various countries last July of 103 African immigrants, the Spanish authorities sought the help of the French and German police in identifying the original nationality of the 700 detainees, so that they could be returned to their respective countries.

With no sign of progress by late January the government decided to transfer 83 of the migrants to the Spanish mainland, releasing them with Ptas 2,000 each and giving them two weeks to apply for legal status. This step was quickly denounced by migrant aid bodies, including the Andalusian Reception Federation (FAA) and the Spanish Commission for Aid to Refugees (CEAR), since the probable outcome would be to add the 83 to the ranks of the thousands who were living in Spain illegally and in very difficult circumstances.

The government was eventually obliged to make a more substantial concession, and in early February it resolved to transfer all 700 migrants from Ceuta and Melilla, and to grant each a one-year residence and work permit.