The Diplomat
The National Police have opened an investigation into the escape of four asylum seekers with Moroccan passports from a room at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport where requests for international protection are handled, according to sources from the Ministry of the Interior who informed Europa Press.
For just under a month, a group of Sahrawis from Morocco have been in Barajas waiting to be granted asylum or returned. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, there are just over 70 citizens waiting at the Madrid airport from the neighbouring country, some of whom went on a hunger strike days ago in protest.
Last January, unions from the National Police reported another escape, this time of almost 30 asylum seekers of Maghreb origin. Police organisations warned of the “risks to air safety” because some of the migrants managed to access the airport runways after breaking the glass of one of the asylum room windows.
On this occasion, the police are investigating the escape of these four citizens with Moroccan passports on suspicion that they may have left the asylum room through the roof.
The problems arising from asylum seekers asking for protection when they stop over at Barajas led to the intervention of the Government months ago to avoid the collapse of the facilities when citizens from different African countries arrive, including Mauritania, Senegal, Kenya or Morocco. In some cases, transit visas have been introduced to prevent fraud when stopping over in Madrid.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaka, pointed out on Tuesday at the press conference after the Council of Ministers that they maintain “permanent communication, coordination and cooperation” with UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to study “individually” each request for asylum from the Sahrawis, “in case it is appropriate” to grant them international protection or, if not, to authorize the expulsions.
According to the data from the Interior Ministry on Monday, in Barajas there are a total of 115 asylum seekers, of whom 73 come from Morocco, although none were on a hunger strike. A week earlier there were 57 Moroccan citizens who claimed to be persecuted Sahrawis, so some of them even announced a hunger strike in protest.
