Minister Diaz responds to critics

THE Minister of the Interior has responded to criticism over on-the-spot deportations carried out by the Guardia Civil at the border to Morocco.

Jorge Fernandez Diaz was answering to comments from national and European institutions, the Church and 100 NGOs over on-the-spot deportations.

“If they give me an address where to send those poor people and if they guarantee them care and a job, I can assure you we would send them there. But there is a lot of hypocrisy,” he said during an interview given to Antena3.

On-the-spot deportations of migrants caught jumping over the Ceuta and Mellilla border fences – which would be legalised by an amendment to the Immigration Law currently being discussed by Spanish authorities – have sparked protests from human rights activists and institutions around Europe.

“Authorities in Northern and Central Europe and other corners of the world do not have the same problem and are trying to teach us what humanitarianism means. I would ask them to give us an address and to commit to looking after them and to give them a decent job according to their skills,” said the Minister.

If the problem were solved by giving shelter in Spain to the poor people living on Mount Gurugu near the Melilla border or the illegal immigrants in Ceuta, he would do just that, said the Minister. The problem is that such a measure would open the flood gates and result in hundreds of thousands of migrants coming to Spain and the country cannot shelter them all.

“I understand humanitarian dramas, of course I do. But my humanitarian feelings are just as strong as everyone else’s. I do not accept lessons on humanitarianism from anybody,” he said.

As stated by Fernandez during the interview, the objective is to keep migrants from illegally entering the country.

“If someone has a different solution to uphold the law, which says that migrants must legally enter the country through the established border controls, and not illegally, massively and sometimes violently, if someone has a formula that is different to the one used by the Guardia Civil, then we are all ears. But so far no one has said anything,” he commented.