May 30, 2017

After arduous journeys, ordeals continue for immigrants in Spain

located:	Spain
editor:	Maria João Morais

Many risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea on perilous rubber dinghies fleeing war or famine. After travelling through Africa, many climb the tall, barbed-wired fences that surround the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. All this hardship is suffered in order to enter Spain, the gateway to the European Union, and to find new opportunities and a higher quality of life.

However, besides the numerous difficulties a migrant must overcome in order to reach Spanish soil, many sub-Saharan immigrants become daily victims of discriminatory measures once they achieve their objective of entering Spain.

On one hand, since 2012, after a controversial reform passed by the conservative People's Party (still in government), undocumented migrants are not entitled to basic health care, and are only treated in emergency cases.

Nevertheless, the attitude of the authorities is one of the main obstacles that immigrants face in Spain. Complaints over discriminatory and racist identification checks carried out by police have recently reached the European Court of Human Rights. Although it is illegal to ask for somebody´s identification solely on the basis of their physical appearance, many migrants have reportedly been approached by policemen for no other reason than their skin colour. Lamentably, the Spanish government has taken no effective measures to prevent this type of discriminatory behaviour.

To worsen the situation, undocumented immigrants risk being taken to one of the many controversial migrant detention centres (CIE in Spanish), where they are treated as criminals, despite their only wrongdoing is being without a residence permit.

Photo: Bárbara Boyero/flickr