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DETENTION CONDITIONS IN THE OLD AIRPORT FACILITIES
The men and women detained at the Fuerteventura and Lanzarote facilities are all migrants who have arrived in Spain on small boats ("pateras") from the North African coast, principally Morocco and Mauritania. The vast majority of these migrants do not possess proper travel documents, if they carry documentation at all. There are two main groups of migrants who arrive in the Canaries by patera-North Africans, particularly Moroccans, many of whom have family on the Islands, and Sahrawis;4 and sub-Saharan Africans coming from countries such as Cameroon, Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.5 In most cases, the Spanish Civil Guard either picks the migrants up at sea or soon after they arrive on shore, and provides basic humanitarian assistance before transferring them to the authority of the Spanish national police who are responsible for their transfer to and detention in the airport facilities. (See section below on the process leading to detention.)
In both Fuerteventura and Lanzarote a disused terminal of the old island airport has been converted into a detention facility. The conditions of detention within these makeshift facilities raise serious concerns about the human rights of those detained. This section focuses on the conditions of detention in the Fuerteventura facility, bringing attention to similarly adverse conditions in the Lanzarote facility where appropriate.7 According to the Spanish Red Cross, the entire facility in Fuerteventura measures approximately thirty-by-thirty-meters (9,600 square feet) in size. There is a corridor upon entry, two rooms for detainees (one for the men and one for the women), an office for the police, and toilet and shower facilities (four toilets and three showers for the men and two toilets and two showers for the women).8 The number of women detained in the facility varies between a few to fifteen or twenty. For the most part, pregnant women or women with small children are not detained. (See section below on the detention of children.) The men's room, the largest area of the detention facility, measures approximately twenty-by-twenty-meters (4,300 square feet).9 It is the baggage claim area passengers previously used to enter from the airport landing strip. The space retains bulky structures such as the two old baggage claim carousels and includes the men's bathroom and wash area. Consequently, only a portion of that space is available as living space for all of the male detainees. This area is informally divided into two parts, one-half for the North Africans and one-half for the sub-Saharan Africans. Mattresses and bunk beds line the walls and surround the baggage claim carousels.10 There are no places where migrants can store their personal effects or where they can talk, relax, or play games during the day, except where they have rolled up their mattresses.11 As one worker at the Spanish Red Cross noted,
The Spanish Red Cross has determined that the men's living and sleeping space is only large enough to accommodate fifty detainees,13 yet while the number of migrants detained in the facilities fluctuates, depending on the number of arrivals, migrants Human Rights Watch interviewed reported that there are frequently more than 300 men being held in detention in the Fuerteventura facility. Representatives at the headquarters of the Spanish Red Cross in the Canary Islands told Human Rights Watch that at the time of our visit to the islands in late October the actual number of detainees was closer to 400.14 Subsequent reports from the Spanish Red Cross indicate that since late November the number of migrants arriving in the Canaries has risen dramatically, bringing the number of detainees in the Fuerteventura facility to more than 500 for weeks at a time.15 This trend of increased arrivals shows no apparent signs of abating. Rather, reports in January 2002 indicate that the number of migrants arriving in the Canaries during the fall of 2001 is more than three times greater than the number of migrants who arrived on the islands in fall 2000.16 Moreover, just in the first ten days of 2002 at least 150 migrants were intercepted while arriving in the Canary Islands.17 Another 300 migrants arrived in the two weeks following.18 During a Forum for Immigration in Gran Canaria called by the regional government in the Canary Islands in December 2001,19 the Spanish Red Cross and volunteer doctors servicing the Fuerteventura facility publicly denounced the conditions in the old airport terminal and expressed concern over the possibility of a dangerous health epidemic.20 In early January 2002, the four volunteer doctors and two nurses providing medical care at the Fuerteventura facility announced their decision to stop providing these services. Their reason was the government's failure to make any significant improvements in conditions for migrants in the facility since they began providing voluntary medical care, a condition upon which they had originally agreed to offer their services.21 Regional government and political party actors are increasingly demanding that the national government address the migrant crisis in the islands.22 Health and Welfare
There are insufficient toilets and showers (only cold water). In Fuerteventura, there are currently four toilets and three showers (one of each was recently added) for more than 300, and recently, more than 500 men. In other words, at best there is one toilet for every seventy-five men and, for many weeks at a time, only one toilet for every 125 men. Not surprisingly, recent reports indicate that the toilet and bathroom area is regularly flooded: "The water seeps out under the door and wets the nearby mattresses, putting the health of those sleeping there at risk." 25 Nonetheless, there is no cleaning service for either of the airport facilities. Instead, migrants are expected to organize among themselves a cleaning schedule for the bathrooms, using supplies provided on a humanitarian basis by the Spanish Red Cross. There is no hot water and although migrants can theoretically hand-launder their own clothing, there are no clotheslines on which to dry them nor is there an area in which they can wash larger items such as jeans, sweaters, or bed-sheets.26 Moreover, the poor ventilation and lack of fresh air or sunlight make it extremely difficult to dry wet clothing. Consequently, migrants "just give up. [The facility] smells like acidic sweat, feet, and bad breath."27 Because Human Rights Watch was denied access to the facilities, our researchers were not able to personally assess the conditions of detention in these facilities, but the consistent accounts of the substandard conditions in which hundreds of migrants are held for up to forty days raises serious concerns about the hygiene and health risks they face. Until recently, volunteer doctors and a nurse from the Red Cross visited the Fuerteventura facility one to two times per week for a few hours.28 The Spanish Red Cross created lists of patients by order of priority (based on the seriousness of their complaints). For critical care or emergency treatment, the police must take migrants to the hospital.29 Doctors volunteering at the Fuerteventura facility said that the general conditions of detention are substandard and problematic. They confirmed that many migrants sleep on the floor on mattresses and sheets that are not routinely cleaned and that while they have food and water,30 they have very little else. Dr. Juan Letang, head of surgery at the Fuerteventura hospital, told Human Rights Watch:
Soon after our interview, the number of migrants being held in cramped rooms without ventilation rose to more than 500, causing Dr. Letang and the other volunteer doctors providing assistance at the facility to join the Spanish Red Cross in condemning the detention facilities. They expressed serious concern that the abject conditions and lack of routine check-ups of detainees could lead to an epidemic, particularly of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, which are endemic in many of the migrants' countries of origin.32 Dr. Letang told Human Rights Watch that another issue of very serious concern to the doctors volunteering their services in the Fuerteventura airport is the current health clinic set-up in the detention facility:
The state of the "health clinic" in the Fuerteventura airport facility restricts the ability of doctors to provide adequate care to detainees. The lack of privacy and inability of patients to speak in confidence with their physicians raises serious concerns about the ability of migrants to access what could be critical health care.34 Human Rights Watch also received reports of problems with the distribution of medication to detainees. One Red Cross worker noted that migrants frequently complain that they have not gotten their medications. Upon inquiry, the Red Cross then discovers that a doctor had written an order for medication that was not recorded or acted upon.35 Dr. Letang confirmed that patients complain about not getting their medications and added that the problem is that "the police don't have to give it to them because it is not their function. Yet, there is no doctor on staff to do this. Red Cross gives them a card saying what they need and the police have a list for minor things and what people need for that (for example, paracetamol for headaches); if they want to, they give it."36 For detainees who are receiving medication there are problems with continuation of treatment once they are transferred from the facility. Essentially, their medications are not continued and they are not informed about the medications that they have been taking so that they may be continued elsewhere. The government has a clear responsibility to ensure that there is a system in place for maintaining the basic health condition of detainees in their custody, including the administering of required medications in between short weekly or bi-weekly visits from voluntary doctors. In short, reports from migrants, migrants' organizations, the Spanish Red Cross, and independent doctors indicate that hygiene and health conditions at the Fuerteventura airport detention facility are cause for serious concern. The paucity of toilet, bathing, and washing facilities, in combination with scarce sunlight, fresh air, and ventilation and the failure of the Spanish authorities to take responsibility for routine cleaning of the facility, violates the basic human rights of those detained. The current health care set-up depends solely on volunteer doctors, who are required to work in substandard conditions, and does not incorporate routine health checks to prevent epidemics or reliable systems for the administration of medication to migrants. Communication
There are no telephones available to migrants at the Fuerteventura facility, nor can migrants receive phone calls, visits, or mail.39 Government officials and an agent of the Police Intervention Unit guarding the Fuerteventura facility confirmed these reports in interviews with Human Rights Watch.40 Migrants' and humanitarian organizations also report that Moroccan family members cannot get information on their relatives who they suspect are being detained in either the Fuerteventura police station or the airport facility awaiting deportation.41 Spanish law requires that the authorities inform detainees' family members about their detention if a detainee requests the release of such information.42 Human Rights Watch has no information regarding whether detainees are informed of their right to request disclosure of information about their detention to family members. Detention of Children
Representatives of CEAR46 (Fuerteventura), an organization that aids migrants and asylum seekers in Fuerteventura and runs a children's center in Puerto del Rosario, described a case in which a child was kept in a children's home, separated from his parents because they were being held in detention in the old airport facility. The boy, who was Moroccan and approximately eleven years old, was left at the CEAR-run children's center in Puerto del Rosario while his mother was being held in detention in the Fuerteventura airport. The child and his mother had no contact with each other for about one week, after which time the national police removed the child from the CEAR facility. Although the boy had departed the center when Human Rights Watch representatives visited, other children at the center, as well as one of the teachers, confirmed his recent presence, commenting that he spent much of the time crying for his mother.47 CEAR believes that the child and his mother were deported together to Morocco.48 Lack of cooperation from the national police in Fuerteventura made it impossible to obtain further information or official comment on this case. Spain's obligations under international law are particularly high with respect to migrant children. Not only should children not be separated from their parents against their will and against their best interests, they should not be held in detention with unrelated adults or in facilities that are not established to ensure their physical and psychological safety and well being. (See below section on International and Regional Standards (The Detention of Children).) Official Response
Deputy Director General of Immigration Carlos Guervós noted that, "[o]f course the Spanish administration is not satisfied with the installations we have in the airports. . . . After the visit of Special Representative Enrique Fernández-Miranda we were sure we had to do something."49 Marcial Morales from the Canary Islands' Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, who has visited the Fuerteventura facility, described it as a place that "can only work for a short time because there is no privacy, no fresh air, no direct sunlight."50 He further expressed that "[i]t is just for emergencies but it has been like that for more than some months. We and NGOs are asking for a new installation for a long time now."51 In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Head of the Office for Foreigners and Documentation (Spanish National Police headquarters, Ministry of Interior) Manuel Prieto candidly asserted:
While the Ministry of Interior indicated that the Spanish government plans to build new detention centers, it is unclear when construction will begin. Human Rights Watch could not confirm any concrete plans for new construction despite the urgency of the situation in Fuerteventura.53 Moreover, officials at the Ministry's Department of Immigration and the National Police seemed to believe that interim measures such as arranging for telephone calls, visits, or exercise time were not feasible.54 Human Rights Watch acknowledges the difficult position of the Spanish government given the rapid increase in migration to Spain in recent years. However, the severely substandard conditions of detention for migrants in the Canary Islands has persisted and only grown worse in the last couple of years, to the point that the current situation, particularly in Fuerteventura, has reached emergency proportions. The Spanish government simply cannot wait to address the systematic violation of migrants' human rights until new detention facilities can be built. 4 By "Sahrawis" Human Rights Watch intends to refer to persons who are indigenous to the disputed Western Sahara. That region is classified by the international community as a non-self-governing territory. Most of it is presently under de facto Moroccan control. 5 This list of countries was developed based on Human Rights Watch interviews with migrants. 6 Human Rights Watch interview, Dr. Juan Letang, head of surgery at the Fuerteventura hospital, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001, describing the Fuerteventura airport detention facility. 7 Most of the information on detention conditions gathered by our researchers in late October and November 2001 pertains to the Fuerteventura facility. In addition, Human Rights Watch interviewed seven migrants who had recently been detained in the Lanzarote airport facility upon arrival in the Canaries as well as migrants' and humanitarian organizations providing service to migrants in Lanzarote. Migrants and humanitarian organizations report that migrants in Lanzarote, like those in Fuerteventura, are detained in a cramped, overcrowded space where there is limited sunlight and no fresh air or ventilation. They do not have access to exercise nor can they communicate with the outside world or have visitors. Organizations other than the Spanish Red Cross are denied access to see or speak with migrants. Human Rights Watch interviews with migrants, Las Palmas, November 3, 2001; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Lanzarote Acoge, October 31, 2001; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, January 4, 2002. Note that because some Spanish Red Cross workers requested anonymity, we have chosen to withhold all names.
8 The Spanish national police added additional toilet and shower facilities after mid-2001, bringing them to these current numbers. Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross, Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 9 There are conflicting reports on the size of the Fuerteventura detention facility. Spanish Red Cross, however, which has daily access to the facilities, told Human Rights Watch that the portion of the old airport used for detaining migrants is approximately thirty-by-thirty-meters in size and that the men's living and sleeping area measures approximately twenty-by-twenty-meters. In January 2002, Spanish Red Cross staff verified these dimensions during a follow-up telephone interview. Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), December 17, 2001. But see Tomás Bárbulo, "An Airport Becomes Hell for Immigrants," El País, December 17, 2001. 10 Spanish Red Cross did not know the exact number of bunk beds and mattresses available, noting that some of the beds were already broken on arrival. They estimate that there are enough beds for 200 to 250 of the men detained, with extra mattresses for the floor. Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. Recent press reports indicate that on January 31, 2002 the Spanish army brought additional beds to the Fuerteventura facility. See Juan Manuel Pardellas, "A Hundred Immigrants Detained in Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and Algeciras," El País, February 1, 2002. 11 Human Rights Watch interviews with migrants, Las Palmas, October 30-November 1, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 12 Human Rights Watch interview, Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 13 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), December 17, 2001. 14 Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Las Palmas), Las Palmas, October 30, 2001. While the conditions in Lanzarote are better than those reported in the Fuerteventura airport facility with regard to overcrowding, there are nonetheless routinely one hundred, at times 200, migrants detained in a room similar in dimension to the room in Fuerteventura. For the time-being there are enough bunk beds for all detainees, but the recent transfer of forty-five migrants from the Fuerteventura airport facility to the facility in Lanzarote raises concern that the Spanish government (or local authorities) may pursue a short-term strategy of relocating detainees to an equally substandard, albeit less crowded, facility in lieu of addressing the profound inadequacy of the current makeshift detention facilities in the Canary Islands. The Spanish Red Cross expressed concern that transferring migrants from Fuerteventura to Lanzarote can only alleviate the overcrowding in Fuerteventura to a minor degree and that a significant increase in the number of detainees in Lanzarote would overwhelm the already inadequate facilities. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, January 4, 2002. See also Juan Manuel Pardellas, "The Canary Islands Demand Control over Immigration and Border Security," El País, December 22, 2001. 15 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), December 17, 2001. See also Pardellas, "The Canary Islands Demand Control . . .," El País. 16 See Tomás Bárbulo, "Immigrant Boat Routes have Shifted from Andalucía to the Canaries," El País, January 10, 2002. Some immigration experts hypothesize that the unprecedented increase in arrivals to the Canaries during fall 2001 stems from a tightening of control on routes across the Gibraltar Strait to the Andalucían coasts after the attacks on September 11, 2001. Ibid. 17 See Tomás Bárbulo and Juan Manuel Pardellas, "The PSOE Calls for an Emergency Plan for Immigration in the Canaries," El País, January 11, 2002. 18 "In search of a better place," La Provincia, January 27, 2002. 19 The forum was created by the regional government of the Canary Islands for the purpose of discussing immigration policy among local, regional, and central government representatives and nongovernmental and humanitarian organizations concerned with migrants' issues. The December 11, 2001 session addressed among other issues conditions in the airport detention facilities as well as the ongoing debate over the construction of new internment facilities. 20 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), December 17, 2001. 21 See Juan Manuel Pardellas, "The Immigrants Housed in Fuerteventura have Stopped Receiving Medical Attention," El País, January 10, 2002. 22 See e.g., Juan Manuel Pardellas, "Canaries Demands Competence on Immigration and Border Control," El País, December 22, 2001; Bárbulo and Pardellas, "The PSOE Calls for an Emergency Plan. . .," El País. 23 Human Rights Watch interviews with migrants, Las Palmas, October 29 - November 3, 2001; and Human Rights Watch interview, social worker who previously worked for the Spanish Red Cross distributing medical kits inside the Fuerteventura facility, Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001.
24 Human Rights Watch interview, forty-year-old man from Guinea Bissau, Las Palmas, November 3, 2001. 25 Bárbulo, "Airport Becomes Hell...," El País. In Lanzarote there are three to four toilets. Yet, according to a number of migrants interviewed by Human Rights Watch, there are no bathing facilities to which detainees have unrestricted access. Rather, police must escort detainees in groups to facilities outside the building if they wish to shower. Human Rights Watch interviews, seven migrants who had been detained in the Lanzarote airport facility, Las Palmas, November 3, 2001. Spanish Red Cross confirmed these reports in a subsequent interview. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, January 4, 2002. 26 A social worker who previously worked in the Fuerteventura airport facility told Human Rights Watch:
Human Rights Watch interview, Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 27 Bárbulo, "Airport Becomes Hell...," El País, quoting Els van Leemput, Spanish Red Cross worker. 28 These volunteers have since suspended their work in the facility in protest of the conditions. See above discussion (Overcrowding Section). 29 The medical attention offered by volunteer Red Cross doctors to detainees at the Lanzarote facility is comparable to the treatment described in Fuerteventura. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, January 4, 2002. 30 Migrants in the two airport facilities have three meals a day. In Fuerteventura, the morning meal consists of a bread roll with cheese or meat, milk, and juice. The afternoon meal, the largest meal of the day, is a meal provided by the airline catering service (like those given to airline passengers) and dessert. And the evening meal is another bread roll. They have water throughout the day. Although migrants complained that they did not like the food and that it was not fresh, the doctors Human Rights Watch interviewed did not believe that the food was substandard. Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), October 31, 2001, Puerto del Rosario; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Dr. Pedro Media, November 1, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview, Dr. Juan Letang, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001. A Spanish Red Cross representative who works in the Fuerteventura facility, however, recently reported that the food is inadequate and is frequently delivered at erratic intervals. Bárbulo, "Airport Becomes Hell...," El País; Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, December 17, 2001. 31 Human Rights Watch interview, Dr. Juan Letang, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001. 32 Bárbulo, "Airport Becomes Hell...," El País. 33 Human Rights Watch interview, Dr. Juan Letang, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001. 34 The Spanish Red Cross told Human Rights Watch that doctors in Lanzarote are similarly dissatisfied with the area in which they must perform physical examinations of detainees. The examining room is a small room (normally used by the police) where although the lack of privacy may be less serious than in the Fuerteventura facility, the level of hygiene is not appropriate for a medical clinic and is cause for concern. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross, January 4, 2002. 35 Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 36 Human Rights Watch interview, Dr. Juan Letang, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001. 38 Human Rights Watch interview, Las Palmas, October 30, 2001. 39 Human Rights Watch interviews with migrants, Las Palmas, October 30-November 1, 2001. The facilities in Lanzarote are equally restrictive. There is no public phone and migrants cannot receive visits or mail. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Coordinator for the Spanish Red Cross, Washington, D.C., January 4, 2002. A lawyer for Lanzarote Acoge, the main migrants' non-governmental organization operating in Lanzarote, told Human Rights Watch that, like in Fuerteventura, lawyers and nongovernmental organization representatives may not visit the Lanzarote airport facility. Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Carmen Steinert, lawyer, Lanzarote Acoge, December 19, 2001. 40 See e.g., Human Rights Watch interview, Carlos Guervós, Deputy Director of Immigration, Ministry of Interior, Madrid, November 12, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview, officer of the Police Intervention Unit (special police force), Fuerteventura, November 1, 2001. 41 Human Rights Watch interview, CEAR (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 42 See Law No. 8/2000 (Regarding the Rights and Freedoms of Foreign Nationals Living in Spain and their Social Integration) in combination with Section 2.a (Internment Centers for Foreigners), Article 127(4) of the law's Regulations for the Application of Spanish Law on Foreign Nationals. 43 Juan Manuel Pardellas, "Interior Returns 200 Illegal Immigrants Detained in Fuerteventura to Morocco," El País, January 23, 2002, noting that on January 23 the Civil Guard had detained one hundred migrants who were then transferred to the airport facilities in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, including a nine-month-old and six other minors in Fuerteventura and four minors in Lanzarote. 44 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, Spanish Red Cross (Fuerteventura), December 17, 2001. 45 Tomás Bárbulo, "The Canaries Government Rejects the Creation of an Immigrant Center in the Old Army Barracks in Fuerteventura," El País, December 19, 2001. 46 The Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR) (Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid) is one of the primarily refugee and asylum aid organizations in Spain. It has seven offices throughout Spain, including offices in Las Palmas and Fuerteventura. 47 Human Rights Watch interview, CEAR (Fuerteventura) children's center, Puerto del Rosario, November 1, 2001. In addition to concerns regarding the separation of the child and his mother, Human Rights Watch noted during the visit that the children's center is an open facility near the port in Puerto del Rosario where children of all ages are mixed and can freely come and go, without a significant level of supervision or guidance. 48 Human Rights Watch interview, Pedro Santana, Coordinator, CEAR (Fuerteventura), Puerto del Rosario, October 31, 2001. 49 Human Rights Watch interview, Carlos Guervós, Deputy Director of Immigration, Ministry of Interior, Madrid, November 12, 2001. Special Representative Fernández-Miranda was appointed Government Representative for Foreigners and Immigration (Ministry of Interior) on May 13, 2000. His primary responsibilities are to formulate government policy in relation to overseas, immigration and asylum rights issues and to coordinate and promote all related activities. 50 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, November 5, 2001. 52 Human Rights Watch interview, Madrid, November 14, 2001. 53 Human Rights Watch interview, Carlos Guervós, Deputy Director of Immigration, Ministry of Interior, Madrid, November 12, 2001; Human Rights Watch interview, Manuel Prieto, Head of Foreigners and Documentation Department, José García Santalla, Chief of Central Foreigners Unit (Foreigners and Documentation Department), and José Ramón Pérez García, Chief of Statistics, Spanish National Police (within the Ministry of Interior), Madrid, November 14, 2001. See also footnote 2 of this report.
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