Alyssa Mcmurtry
29 September 2026•Update: 29 September 2026
Human rights organizations on Tuesday urged Spain to abandon a proposed decree to accelerate deportations from Ceuta, warning that it would undermine asylum protections.
In a joint statement, organizations including Oxfam and the Spanish Commission for Refugees said the proposal would create an "exception to the right to asylum based on place and time."
The government has been preparing the measure following a mass crossing into Ceuta in late July, when nearly 80,000 people crossed into the small Spanish African enclave.
El Pais newspaper reported Saturday that officials were aiming to bring the proposal before the Cabinet on Tuesday, although the text remained under development.
According to the newspaper, the Interior Ministry-backed proposal would shorten administrative and judicial procedures to speed up asylum decisions and returns to Morocco.
More than 10,000 migrants remained in Ceuta, according to government figures cited by El Pais.
The organizations warned that the draft would allow some asylum-seekers to be removed before decisions on their applications and restrict their ability to invoke protection against being returned to danger.
They said this threatened the principle of non-refoulement, which protects people from being sent to countries where their lives or physical safety would be at risk.
The groups also criticized a provision under which asylum applications would be ruled inadmissible if submitted more than seven days after notification of a return, expulsion or refusal-of-entry order.
People could miss that deadline because they lacked information about asylum or faced difficulties accessing initial screening procedures, the organizations said.
They also warned that a proposed five-calendar-day deadline for appealing unfavorable decisions would undermine access to legal assistance.
They said it would leave insufficient time to appoint a lawyer, examine the case file and consult the applicant with an interpreter where necessary.
The statement also criticized the removal of safeguards involving the UN refugee agency's role in assessing applications.
The groups urged the government to withdraw the proposal and honor its commitment to implement the EU's migration and asylum pact in the least harmful way possible for asylum rights.
