The minister is not often accused of acting against international rules by regularly expelling large groups of undocumented Venezuelans. In last week's ruling, the minister can borrow elements to defend his policy.
However, the European Court of Human Rights has delivered a judgment that could perhaps serve as a guide for the Minister of Justice to face criticism of his policy on illegal migration from Venezuela. In the judgment, the Court ruled (unanimously) that Spain has not violated the prohibition on collective expulsion of aliens.
Nor was there, according to the Court, an infringement of the right to an effective remedy. The case concerned the immediate return to Morocco of Mali and Ivory Coast nationals who unauthorizedly attempted to enter Spanish territory on 13 August 2014 by climbing over the fences around the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the North African coast. They were expelled without individual deportation decisions and without professional recourse.
They complained to the European Court that this was contrary to both the prohibition of collective expulsion and their right to legal protection. The Court rejected this. It considered that the applicants had in fact placed themselves in an unlawful situation when, on 13 August 2014, they had deliberately tried to enter Spain by crossing the border barriers at Melilla.
They had therefore opted to bypass the legal route for admission to Spain. They themselves were blamed for the absence of individual removal decisions and legal proceedings by not making use of the existing official immigration procedures. With this judgment, the Court considers the following procedure admissible.
In the early morning of 13 August 2014, around 500 migrants tried to invade the Spanish enclave. The group that had succeeded was immediately put across the border again by the Guardia Civil. However, the foregoing does not mean that in cases where the person concerned is applying for refugee status and submits proof of political persecution, the rules of international law for processing asylum applications will have to be observed.
Dr. Rutsel Silvestre J. Martha, LL.M is former Minister of Justice for the Netherlands Antilles and former Minister Plenipotentiary in Brussels. He currently heads Lindeborg Counselors at Law in London, UK.
