The Government reiterates that the 'no man's land' in which Marlaska located the Melilla tragedy is not Spain or Morocco

Difference between police operations and International Law to defend that the land delimitation is set by the border fence

MADRID, 8 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government has reiterated that the so-called 'no man's land' in which the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, located the tragedy in Melilla on June 24 refers to the "transit corridor" and that, therefore, " there is no demarcation of either of the two countries", neither of Morocco nor of Spain.

"From the police point of view, it is considered that the land delimitation is the one established by the border fence," he maintains, justifying that this is so due to operational decisions "and not so much to criteria of International Law."

"It must be indicated that the expression 'no man's land' refers to the transit corridors that exist at border crossings, in which there is no demarcation of either of the two countries," the Executive pointed out in a written parliamentary response dated on December 2 and consulted by Europa Press.

According to the Government, these types of transit corridors are "common at border crossings that exist throughout the world and respond to operational criteria for the control of documentation of people and goods that transit between states, and not so much to criteria of International Law ".

This is stated in the response to EH Bildu deputy Jon Iñarritu, very critical of Grande-Marlaska's management in the tragedy of 24-J after the head of the Interior said in his appearance in Congress in September that the deaths of migrants they happened "in no man's land". He also added later that "no tragic event" -- at least 23 sub-Saharan Africans died -- was registered in national territory.

In a previous written response, on this occasion of November 18, the Executive limited itself to replying to Iñarritu, recalling the international treaties and conventions signed during the 19th century regarding the delimitation of the borders of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla with Morocco, although avoiding clarifying its exact layout.

In this second response, the Government of Pedro Sánchez does say that "from the police point of view it is considered that the land delimitation is the one that sets the border fence." Iñarritu asked if the current situation of the billboards in Melilla coincides with the demarcation -- "not delimitation" -- according to the tenth provision of Organic Law 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain.

"At the border crossings of Melilla there are interruptions to the fenced perimeter, existing in the same small transit corridors between Spain and Morocco, in which there is no demarcation of either of the two countries," insists the Government.

Next, the Executive goes back to the years 1988 and 2004, when construction and remodeling works were carried out in Chinatown, building "a first perimeter fence made up of two metal fences."

In 2005, he cites that the Plan of Special Measures for the security and improvement of public services in Ceuta and Melilla was launched, affecting border posts, and that other reforms were subsequently carried out due to the damages as a consequence of the Torrential rains.

Thus they arrive at 2019, with Fernando Grande-Marlaska in the Ministry of the Interior, and his plan for the "reinforcement and modernization" of border infrastructures, which has implied the elimination of concertinas and the renewal of technological means.