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Eduardo Oyana

CEUTA DENIES PEOPLE THE POSSIBILITY TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM

By No Name Kitchen Ceuta and Solidary Wheels / Photos Eduardo Oyana

One of the most disturbing facts that we are observing in Ceuta in recent weeks is the impossibility of obtaining an appointment to submit an asylum application. On the online platform for requesting an appointment, applicants are informed that “there are no appointments available”, without establishing a timeframe in which the appointment can be obtained.

Furthermore, neither the online nor the face-to-face channels offer the possibility of obtaining proof that the applicant has tried to obtain the appointment and has not been able to do so for reasons beyond their responsibility. In other words, they do not have a receipt of their manifestation of willingness to apply for asylum. The institutions argue that this is due to technical reasons, but we at No Name Kitchen observe that these are political reasons to allow fewer people to obtain a document that would give them a certain degree of protection, and this leaves many people unprotected.

This leaves many people unprotected and unable to return to their country because they would put themselves in danger, but at the same time trapped in Ceuta without any protection against possible deportation to Morocco, the city’s neighbouring country.

Denial of an inherent right of human beings

Eduardo Oyana

Asylum is an international right inherent to all human beings, without distinction. Specifically, Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises such a right: ”Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution”.

Spanish legislation also regulates the right to asylum and subsidiary protection recognised in the Constitution. Law 12/2009, of 30 October, regulating the right to asylum and subsidiary protection, in accordance with the provisions of Article 13(4) of the Constitution, aims to establish the terms under which non-EU nationals and stateless persons may enjoy in Spain the international protection constituted by the right to asylum and subsidiary protection, as well as the content of such international protection. Today, in Ceuta, the right to asylum is being denied with this practice, a practice that is completely contrary to the law.

There is no institution or support in the city of Ceuta (apart from the centres for minors and the CETI) that provides legal advice to people who wish to seek asylum. And many people, because of their age or nationality, are left out of the CETI or the centres for minors.

Specifically, we are witnessing that adults born in Morocco have been denied entry to CETI for arbitrary reasons, and many of the cases we are collecting have come after the agreement that Spain and Morocco signed in May on migration issues, which is having various consequences, in addition to the extreme violence at the border, as we have already seen in Melilla this June.

Every public administration must follow the policies defined by the European Union and has an obligation to integrate migrants and applicants for international protection. The UN, on its part, is committed to protecting the security, dignity and human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migratory status.

What No Name Kitchen does in Ceuta

Eduardo Oyana

One of the most important tasks of No Name Kitchen (NNK) in Ceuta is to offer legal accompaniment, working together with people, so that they can make their rights effective and/or migrate safely, as everyone has the right to move freely and to choose their residence.

And with this, No Name Kitchen, in collaboration with Solidary Wheels from Melilla, assists migrants and applicants for international protection with special attention to those who are in a situation of vulnerability and are at greater risk of human rights violations.