The Spanish bishops have demanded this Saturday in a statement that migration policies be "humanized" after the deaths that took place yesterday at the Melilla fence and have stressed that it is not an "invasion". The statement has been issued with a statement from the Episcopal Subcommission for Migration and Human Mobility in which they stand in solidarity with migrants, their families and people living in border areas.
"Given the various readings that are made of these violent events, we invite them to be contextualized with a humanitarian perspective where, while we understand the necessary regulation of migratory flows, we must consider the critical situation and misery in which thousands of migrants find themselves. Sub-Saharans crowded on the other side of the Spanish border", recall the prelates.
In the note, which underlines the fact that 18 people have died (there would be 37 according to NGO estimates), 76 who were injured (13 seriously) on the Moroccan part of the fence, the bishops stress that "they are not ' invaders', are only human beings seeking to reach Europe fleeing from active wars (57 in the world, 30 in Africa) and famines, aggravated by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and the drought and plagues caused by climate change ".
It so happens that several Vox leaders, including its leader, Santiago Abascal, or the deputy Agustín Rosety Fernández, and the media environment of the Spanish extreme right are cataloging what happened yesterday as an "invasion", and the statement of the bishops seem to neutralize that message. "Faced with this humanitarian drama, we propose to avoid a partisan and demagogic use of the complex challenge of migration, and analyze this humanitarian drama from the keys offered by the Social Doctrine of the Church," they point out.
The bishops reiterate that it is necessary to "humanize and implement new migration policies that take into account the seriousness of migratory pressure." As an example, they affirm that "Spain lacks spaces or resources to issue visas in many African countries from which thousands of migrants come who are likely to request international protection."
Finally, they claim "an orderly migration through legal and safe channels, as well as promoting collaboration for development with countries that suffer wars, conflicts and famines." "The externalization and militarization of borders by itself will not end the problems and causes that cause the mobility of millions of migrants, refugees or displaced people in the world. We invite, therefore, to take steps of humanization, to analyze and confronting this new crisis gives rise to the need for protection of every human being and the effort to urgently establish legal and safe access routes", protest the bishops of the Episcopal Subcommission for Migration and Human Mobility, made up of Juan Carlos Elizalde (Vitoria ), Luis Quinteiro (Tui-Vigo), José Antonio Satué (Teruel and Albarracín), José Cobo (auxiliary of Madrid) and Ciriaco Benavente (apostolic administrator of Plasencia).
