Spanish Government's Proposed Asylum Decree Faces Widespread Backlash

• Spanish human rights organizations are protesting a new government decree intended to expedite returns in Ceuta, calling it an assault on the right to asylum.
• The proposed measures include the removal of UNHCR oversight from asylum procedures, a strict seven-day window for asylum applications, and the implementation of digital-only notifications via the official state gazette (BOE).

Controversial Provisions

• Critics highlight that the decree effectively denies the right to non-refoulement, a cornerstone of international law protecting individuals from being sent back to situations of torture or abuse.
• Legal experts and activists argue that digital notifications are impractical for individuals in vulnerable conditions, effectively stripping them of their right to legal defense.
• The decree limits judicial review, preventing judges from suspending deportation orders in specific crisis scenarios.

Organized Resistance

• Advocacy groups, including Red Acoge, Novact, and Sos Racismo Madrid, are coordinating a campaign to block the measure before it reaches the Council of Ministers.
• Activists argue the proposal is an extension of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum (PEMA), pushed even further toward systematic exclusion and institutionalized racism.
• Concerns persist that by accelerating deportations, the government aims to suppress testimonies from migrants who have suffered violence and are seeking to report their abusers, effectively granting impunity for human rights violations at the border.