HRW: Help Stop Spanish and Moroccan Abuses of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

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Help Stop Spanish and Moroccan Abuses of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

I was in the port intending to cross to Spain. A [Spanish] policeman saw me and tried to catch me, but three times I escaped. Then the police caught me, six of them, and put me in a car. [In the car] the police beat me on my arms and legs and head. Then another police officer took me to the station and hit me there with a club (porra) and with his feet. They were very angry and crazy. Then they took me to the Civil Guard station. I was screaming from the pain. They asked me if I fell but I was afraid because of the other police. The Civil Guard hit me more and then put me in a room for three hours and then took me to San Antonio.

-Shihab R., fifteen, describing an October 2001 beating by Spanish police which fractured his left hand. Ceuta, November 6, 2001

Every year thousands of Moroccan children, some as young as ten, enter Spain alone, without proper documentation. Sneaking past Moroccan and Spanish police at ports and border posts, they put their lives at risk to pursue their dreams for a better life. Some flee abusive families; others flee poverty and the lack of educational and employment opportunities at home. All too often they find violence, discrimination, and a dangerous life on the streets of unfamiliar cities. When apprehended in Spain they may be beaten by police and then placed in overcrowded, unsanitary residential centers. Some are arbitrarily refused admission to a residential center. The residential centers often deny them the health and education benefits guaranteed them by Spanish law; in these centers, children may be subjected to abuse by other children and the staff entrusted with their care. If they are unlucky, they may be expelled to Morocco, where many are beaten by Moroccan police and eventually turned loose to fend for themselves.

These abuses violate Spanish law. They also violate Spain and Morocco’s legal obligations under several international human rights treaties.

The Spanish government has failed to ensure that Spanish laws guaranteeing unaccompanied migrant children care and protection are uniformly enforced. Spanish regional governments that implement these laws selectively or choose to ignore them altogether are not called to account. For its part, the Moroccan government does not routinely monitor the situation of Moroccan children in Spain, facilitate repatriation from Spain when it is in the child’s interest, or ensure that unaccompanied migrant children receive protection and care when they are returned to Morocco.

What You Can Do

Send Letters:

Write to Spanish national government officials to urge them to end summary expulsions of unaccompanied migrant children and ensure that these children have access to residential care, education, emergency services and other health care, and temporary residency documents, as required by Spanish Law.
Write to the Spanish authorities in Ceuta and Melilla to urge them to end summary expulsions of unaccompanied migrant children and ensure that these children have access to residential care, education, emergency services and other health care, and temporary residency documents, as required by Spanish law.
Write to Moroccan government officials to urge them to ensure that Moroccan unaccompanied migrant children receive special protection and assistance, and to take action to stop police abuse of these children.

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