Amnesty: Refugee Rights Not Respected in Spanish Enclaves
The growing number of migrants and refugees reaching Spanish enclaves in North Africa have experienced police abuse and long delays claiming asylum, a new Amnesty International report says.
More than 11,600 migrants and refugees entered Ceuta and Melilla, which border Morocco, in 2015, an increase of 55 percent on the year before, according to Spain’s interior ministry. Most of them are from Syria.
Amnesty interviewed around 50 people in the two enclaves and found that non-Syrians were often stuck in limbo in detention centers while they waited for their asylum claims to be processed.
The most vulnerable, including LGBT asylum-seekers and survivors of domestic violence, are not adequately protected, the group warned. In Melilla, some of the 60 people who claimed asylum due to persecution based on their sexual orientation have been waiting six months to a year, and have suffered threats and assaults from other detainees.
The group called on Spanish forces not to cooperate with Moroccan police. It accused them of preventing asylum-seekers from reaching the enclaves with force.
Number of Migrant Boats to Italy Reaches New Record
More migrants have reached Italy by boat this year than ever previously recorded.
By November 28, 171,299 people had arrived in Italy, surpassing the 2014 record of 170,100, according to the Italian interior ministry.
Most came from African nations, including 36,000 from Nigeria, 20,000 from Eritrea and more than 12,000 from Guinea.
A growing number of them are unaccompanied minors – 23,000 lone children have arrived in Italy already this year, compared to 13,000 in 2014.
The large number of arrivals has put strain on Italy’s asylum system, as European pledges to relocate refugees arriving in Italy and Greece have been largely left unfulfilled. Some 176,000 asylum seekers are living in shelters around Italy.
The rising number of crossings has also been accompanied by a record death toll in the Mediterranean this year, with more than 4,690 lost at sea to date.
Refugee Activists Hold Protest in Australian Parliament
Several dozen people staged a protest against Australia’s refugee policies in the country’s parliament, causing a brief suspension of proceedings.
Refugee solidarity activists from the group Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance unfurled banners, superglued their hands to the railings and vociferously protested against hardline refugee policies.
“We are here today because your policies are breaking our hearts,” one protester said, according to the Associated Press.
The group is campaigning against Australia’s offshore detention of refugees who try to reach the country, and the ban on their ever settling in Australia.
“After years and years of inquiries and petitions, nobody’s listening so we have to take this type of direct action,” one of the group’s activists, Samantha Castro, told journalists.
The Australian government said it would investigate whether supportive lawmakers facilitated the entry of the protesters into the building.
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