Wednesday, June 06, 2007

The New Fortress Europa

Marc Schulman over at American Future notes Another Case of Selective Outrage :

Israel stands widely condemned and accused of having broken international law by building a wall (most of which is actually a fence) to protect its citizens against suicide bombers.

Much less visible and subject to far less criticism are the Europeans’ efforts to deal with illegal emigration to their countries.

As a refugee, you cannot simply walk up to the border post and ask for asylum: you only have rights once you already have both feet firmly on European soil. To prevent people from achieving this, Europe is erecting what can only be termed a fortress. In Ceuta and Melilla this takes the form of a double fence which is intended to secure the border against refugees. It was raised in height to six metres in 2006, and is made of steel, concrete and barbed wire: at intervals of 40 metres there is a watchtower, directional microphones, spotlights, a tear-gas system, up to 1,200 border guards and military personnel – all designed to prevent refugees from entering Europe. And what happens if someone does manage to climb the fence nonetheless? “Then we shoot at them with tear gas and rubber bullets”, explains the border commandant. I learnt about the consequences from Médecins Sans Frontières: shattered cheekbones, burst eyeballs, broken collarbones.

There is more to read at American Future.

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