An insufficient explanation

The Interior Ministry, under pressure from a flood of immigrants that has been particularly intense in Ceuta and Melilla over recent weeks, on Wednesday missed an opportunity to facilitate the cross-party agreement that the government is seeking on the issue of illegal immigration. The extensive presentation to a congressional committee by the state secretary for security, Francisco Martínez, represents a failed attempt at transparency over the events of February 6 on Tarajal beach, where 15 migrants drowned as they tried to reach the Spanish coast by swimming around a seawall. The state secretary screened several videos clips, some of which were of surprisingly high quality, yet he failed to show footage of the moments when the Civil Guard fired rubber bullets and smoke canisters at the sub-Saharans in a bid to drive them away from the border fence.

The contradictions in the statements of several Interior Ministry officials that emerged after the incident  — including a denial that riot equipment was used in the first place — might have been averted on Wednesday, but the secretary’s imprecise tale did little to clear up the issues that the opposition and the European Commission are most concerned about. After nearly six weeks, the government has softened its tone in an obvious attempt to forge the desired cross-party agreement on illegal immigration. But it has offered no evidence to support its argument that all the migrants drowned on the Moroccan side; that the riot material was shot from such a distance, and merely as a deterrent; and that no migrant was hit — this, despite some testimony to the contrary.

The state secretary failed to show footage of the Civil Guard firing rubber bullets at the sub-Saharans

In short, it was an exercise in transparency without accountability on an issue that is crucial to Spain. Migratory policy must not be used for point-scoring politics. On the contrary, there should be a united front when dealing with Brussels, which is rightfully being called upon to reinforce one of the EU’s most conflict-ridden borders: the north of Africa. The human avalanches of recent weeks show that we are facing a new migratory crisis that countries such as Italy and Spain at least must address with unified criteria. One cannot ask Brussels for money and at the same time violate European rules, then offer unsatisfactory explanations.

It also does not help that the Interior Ministry is insisting on changing the rules to be able to deport migrants as soon as they cross into Spanish territory, rather than take them to holding centers first. Several opposition parties radically oppose this notion, including the Socialists and the Catalan nationalists of CiU. In any case, parliamentary groups would do well to fight for a cross-party agreement. The demographic explosion in Africa, coupled with the poverty and political instability on that continent, augurs a migratory pressure that needs to be curtailed with comprehensive policies that should include development aid, which has seen drastic budget cuts in recent times.