Europe's Dirty Secret

In today's Guardian there is an article entitles 'Europe's Dirty Secret' about the plight of refugees trapped in Melilla, a small autonomous Spanish city, nominally part of Málaga province, on the Mediterranean coast of northern Morocco. There hundreds of Africans are trapped on both the city and Moroccan sides of the three 6m high parallel fences, decorated with motion sensors, cameras and watchtowers, trying to make it to the 'promised land' of Europe. Many are stateless and have no papers. Others have managed to get themselves issued with papers from the UNHCR, confirming their refugees status, but it does them little or no good as they cannot cross into the Spanish territory. Some try but are shot by the border guards. Others make it but then find themselves trapped in Melilla, just as in Ceuta to the west, unable to legally cross to the Spanish mainland.

Next month No Borders Brighton just happen to have planned an info evening and fundraiser that will highlight the situation in Melilla and Ceuta and the similar humanitarian crisis that exists in Libya since the introduction of the Italian 'push back' policy.