Publications

Previous PageTable Of ContentsNext Page

CONCLUSION

The evidence gathered and presented in this report demonstrates that migrants arriving in the Canary Islands are subjected to appalling treatment. They are detained in substandard facilities and have little access to adequate legal, interpretation and translation and judicial services. In this regard, the Spanish authorities routinely violate the human rights of migrants enshrined in domestic, regional, and international law.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Spanish government to promptly address the issue of arbitrary detention of migrants and refugees, to implement immediate interim measures to improve the conditions of detention for migrants and refugees lawfully detained, to take steps to improve the quality of legal and judicial oversight services, and to ensure access to seek asylum for migrants arriving on the islands. The Spanish government has placed illegal migration at the top of its list of topics to address during its European Union presidency beginning January 2002 and should accordingly address as a matter of first priority the crisis situation facing migrants arriving in the Canary Islands.

Previous PageTable Of ContentsNext Page