Spain plans stricter rules on asylum seekers in Ceuta, draft decree shows
The draft would let Spain reject appeals from outside the country and revoke stays after five days of no contact, affecting more than 10,000 migrants.
- On Tuesday, September 29, 2026, Spain drafted a decree to override standard asylum procedures for over 10,000 migrants remaining in the North African enclave of Ceuta following mass crossings earlier this year.
- This measure follows the unprecedented arrival of more than 70,000 migrants from Morocco via land and sea in late July, which exposed the limitations of recent European migration rule adjustments.
- Under the proposed measures, the government could skip standardized asylum reviews, withdraw applications if migrants are unreachable for five days, and revoke rights for those deemed "violent or threatening."
- Critics, including 13 NGOs like Spain's Commission for Assistance to Refugees and Oxfam, decried the measures as a "grave threat" to human rights conventions.
- Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said the government is "analysing the possibility" of a legislative amendment, though he noted that implementation remains "not easy" due to international law.
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The new Government decree is intended to expedite the processing of applications and deportation procedures for the more than 10,000 migrants remaining in Ceuta.
After the massive arrival of migrants in Ceuta, Spain plans to tighten the rules for asylum. The decree would speed up deportations and limit rights of appeal, prompting condemnations from NGOs.
Spain plans stricter rules on asylum seekers in Ceuta, draft decree shows
Spain is planning to override standard migration procedures and tighten rules on asylum seeking for migrants who arrived in its North African enclave of Ceuta in July's mass crossing, a draft decree seen by Reuters showed, prompting outcry from legal experts and NGOs.
Organizations say proposal would allow removals before asylum decisions and shorten appeal deadlines
The European People's Party accuses Morocco of being "responsible" for the migration crisis and the Spanish Executive of "failure" to resolve it. More information: Von der Leyen announces an emergency law to accelerate expulsions against migratory attacks: "Ceuta es Europa"
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