Spanish Court Rules Algerian Migrant’s Expulsion to Morocco Unlawful

This "important decision" of the TSJA, which confirms the judgment of September 4, 2024, is welcomed by the associations Coordinadora de Barrios, No Name Kitchen and the Jesuit Migrant Service, who represented the Algerian migrant.

"Since the Citizen Security Protection Law introduced this legal concept, the government has applied it in Ceuta and Melilla without geographical limits, not only in the border perimeter of the fence, but also at sea, on the islets and archipelagos, or in the city center," the organizations affirm, stressing that the courts of Ceuta have already issued two decisions against this systematic pushback.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office has appealed these decisions to the higher court, which has just confirmed that "this exceptional rejection is only provided for in the perimeter of the fence and recalls that in all other places, the ordinary return procedure must be followed with all its guarantees."

According to the associations, two other procedures are underway before the courts of Ceuta. "In all the cases examined by the courts, it has been proven that the litigants were intercepted by the Civil Guard at sea or on the beach while they were trying to reach the coast of Ceuta and were then returned to Morocco without being able to access legal assistance or an interpreter," they added.

The organizations have also demanded "the end of this practice - declared illegal by the courts," calling for the recognition of all procedural guarantees for foreigners, and recalling that border control "is a responsibility of the State that must be exercised in full respect of human rights."