The Spanish Supreme Court ruled against the State for its lack in fulfilling quota obligations for relocations of asylum seekers from Greece and Italy. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government will correct such "breaches".
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the Spanish government said it will correct "the breaches" made by the former administration under Mariano Rajoy regarding refugees, following the ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court against the government for having substantially avoided its administrative duties in receiving asylum seekers.
Sanchez, cited by Spanish media, made the statement following the sentence regarding relocations between 2015 and 2017, which were only 12.8 percent of the quota of 19,409 refugees that Spain was supposed to take in from Italy and Greece, in accord with the European Union.
'Commitments will be maintained'
"Commitments exist to be maintained," Sanchez said. He said his government will bring into compliance the defaults of the former administration under the conservative Partido Popular (Pp) party. Sanchez, of the Socialist party (Psoe), said his government has shown, from the first day, "sensitivity and empathy with the dramatic reality that thousands of human beings are experiencing in the Mediterranean and towards whom one can't turn away".
Sanchez, in so doing, was referring to one of the first decisions made by his Socialist government, that of accepting the migrant rescue ship Aquarius. The ship was the centre of a fight between Italy and Malta, neither of which allowed it to dock, leaving it to its fate in the Mediterranean with 600 people aboard.
The Spanish court's ruling is the first of a national court regarding the violation of the EU agreement on redistribution of the 160,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Italy (6,383) and Greece (13,086) during the refugee crisis on the island of Lesbos in 2015. Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, cited by the media, said the ruling "shows that the commitments taken up by a country aren't only smoke". "This is a serious thing, it's a contract, and contracts must be honoured," he said. However, Borrell criticised the fact that there are countries, such as those of Eastern Europe, who "have refused to accept the accord, which is an obligation" and nothing has happened as a result.
NGO says ruling is a key opportunity
The Catalan NGO Stop Mare Mortum, which filed the case with the Supreme Court on the wave of indignation over the deaths of 900 migrants in the Strait of Sicily in April 2015, said the ruling is "a key opportunity" for the new government to "apply legal and safe ways" for welcoming refugees and changing Spain's migratory policy.
The ruling requires the Sanchez government to establish, within two months, accommodation for the more than 17,000 refugees left out. The ruling also recognises the "legitimacy of social movements in reclaiming the collective rights of refugees", thereby opening the way for similar legal actions throughout Europe.