„[…] Spanish authorities have long denied that its border forces are carrying out summary returns, but recent statements from Madrid suggest it now wants to legalize this practice through an explicit agreement with Morocco within the framework of its bilateral readmission agreement. The agreement, signed in 1992 but operational only since 2012, provides for minimal formalities to facilitate the return of third-country nationals. Undermining the already weak human rights safeguards in the agreement would be a step in the wrong direction, Human Rights Watch said.

Spain’s interior minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, has indicated that he wants to change the country’s immigration law to allow for summary expulsions from the enclaves. He has gone so far as to argue that migrants should not be considered to have entered Spanish territory until they have crossed the “police line.”

“The argument that a person is not actually in Spain until he gets past a police officer boggles the mind,” Sunderland said. “Spain cannot move the border as it sees fit, nor can it side-step EU law and international human rights standards.”

International and EU law prohibit refoulement – that is, forcible returns to a place where a person would face a real risk of inhuman and degrading treatment. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights recognizes a right to asylum, while the EU returns directive sets out minimum procedural safeguards for returns of undocumented migrants and requires Spain to take due account of certain individual circumstances as well as its nonrefoulement obligations. […]“

via Spain/Morocco: Protect Migrants, Asylum Seekers | Human Rights Watch