The Congreso de los Diputados, the lower house of Parliament in Spain, has adopted the Law on Public Security, which amends the Aliens Act and renders the return of migrants at the border of Ceuta and Melilla legal. The approved text states that those who attempt to cross the border of Ceuta and Melilla without authorisation “will be rejected in order to prevent illegal immigration into Spain." As several NGOs have pointed out, the amendment, which entered into force on the 1st of April, legalises rejection at the border without any administrative procedure or a right to defence. Accordingly this is in direct contravention of EU asylum procedural law, international customary law, international human rights law and even domestic constitutional legislation (Article 13.4 of the Spanish Constitution, right to asylum and Articles 20 and 22 of the Spanish Immigration Act; the right to an effective remedy; the right to appeal against administrative acts or the right to a lawyer and interpreter). Instead the amendment stipulates that applications for international protection “will be lodged in the places set out for this purpose at the border posts”.
