A bishop in Morocco has criticized Spain’s decision to reintroduce barbed wire to deter immigrants from entering Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities located on the Moroccan border along the north coast of Africa.
“Barbed wire with blades on fences in Ceuta and Melilla is an attack on the physical integrity of immigrants,” said Archbishop Santiago Agrelo Martínez, the Spanish-born bishop of Tanger, Morocco. “Those blades cut, injure, maim and are contrary to the duty which we all have to respect the rights of African men, women, and children on their journeys to European countries.”
“It is understood that a government must ensure adequate security of citizens in the territory of the nation,” he added, , according a Fides report. “But its legitimacy fades if it means that it deprives others of the fundamental right to health, wellness, food, clothing, housing, medical care, [and] necessary social services.”
