The war refugees in "Europe's ghetto"

<*> Three hundred African war refugees have been living in inhuman conditions in the Spanish enclave city of Ceuta on the north Moroccan coast.

The refugees are all from countries affected by war--Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, Niger and Liberia. Because of the strict entry procedures for the Schengen countries, they have become trapped in a legal no-man's land.

In the middle of May, the refugees began a hunger strike in an attempt to force some official action. They scored an important victory in July, when the UN High Commission for Refugees announced that a group of 20 could enter the Spanish mainland and get residence and work permits.

United for Interncultural Action, the Amsterdam-based anti-racist network, has been publicising the case of the refugees, who have lived for the past two years in holes in the town wall and in derelict buildings. They have not been permitted access to legal or medical help. There is no electricity or drinking water, and poor sanitation; some of the refugees are suffering from tuberculosis, and many have been attacked by rats.

Up to now, the Spanish authorities have chosen to forget them, and they cannot return to their own countries. Most of the people of Ceuta and the local authorities have refused to help the refugees or have any contact with them; with the town's mayor commmenting "Ceuta cannot become a ghetto of Europe."

Many of the refugees are highly educated and have organised good discipline at the camp, but they can no longer live with the uncertainty of their legal status. A report (in Spanish) is available from the Andalucian Human Rights Association