Ceuta: fundamental rights cannot be suspended
ILGA-Europe stands with the organisations in Spain, Morocco and across Europe calling on Spain to respect the rights of people arriving in Ceuta , including their right to seek protection and to have their individual circumstances properly assessed.
The exceptional scale of recent arrivals to Ceuta and the politicisation surrounding them do not change Spain’s and the EU’s obligations towards people seeking safety. Access to asylum, the principle of non-refoulement, the protection of children and humane reception are not conditional rights. They cannot be set aside because migration is being presented as a security or political threat, and they cannot be undermined by the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and the Deportation Regulation. The solidarity of activists, volunteers and community members providing help must not be criminalised either.
As Spain’s Congress holds extraordinary hearings this week to scrutinise the response in Ceuta, fundamental rights must be part of that scrutiny. Accountability cannot focus only on border management and security and must also address the failure to provide people arriving with effective access to protection and individual assessment.
Individual assessment and safe reception are essential precisely because people arrive with very different protection needs. Among those seeking safety are children, people who have experienced torture or trafficking, women fleeing gender-based violence, and LGBTI people who may face persecution or violence because of who they are. No one should be returned without an effective opportunity to seek protection and an assessment of the risks they may face.
Recent accounts from organisations working in Ceuta have highlighted serious concerns about the situation of LGBTI people among those arriving, including a Moroccan trans woman who was reportedly initially left without safe accommodation and exposed to violence and discrimination. Other accounts have similarly pointed to LGBTI asylum seekers facing heightened risks and inadequate protection. These accounts underline why people at particular risk must be identified early and provided with appropriate protection and support.
We join Spanish, Moroccan and international organisations in calling for the Spanish authorities to ensure dignified reception, access to asylum procedures and individual assessment for everyone arriving in Ceuta. This must include measures to protect people with specific protection needs, including measures to identify and safely accommodate LGBTI people and others with specific protection needs, and to ensure that no one is returned before having effective access to an individual procedure, or to a place where they may face persecution or serious harm.
We underline that fundamental rights do not become less important when migration is politically contested, and that the right to seek protection must remain a right for everyone. This principle must guide both the authorities’ response in Ceuta and the conclusions of the parliamentary scrutiny taking place this week.
