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Discrimination on the basis of race, national extraction and colour

1. The Committee notes a communication, dated 19 November 2003, from the Democratic Federation of Labour (FDT) of Morocco. The communication alleges that Moroccan workers in El Ejido (Province of Almeria) have been victims of racism and xenophobia in a number of recent incidents. The FDT also sent copies of letters addressed to the Prime Minister of the Spanish Government and the General Secretary of the Spanish General Union of Workers (UGT) stressing the gravity of the situation resulting from a recurrence of violence against foreigners, which, according to the FDT, is now systematic and shows signs of becoming organized and of posing a real threat to the Moroccan community in Spain.

2. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to these allegations. According to the Government, the Almeria provincial labour inspection services received no complaints between September 2003 and May 2004 and have detected no breaches of the law against discrimination in employment on the basis of nationality or race. The alleged violence should therefore be seen in the broader context of social relations and local law and order. In September 2003, the local police reported an assault by three Spanish nationals against a Moroccan immigrant worker the reasons for which have not been ascertained. The police also indicated that, following complaints of - in some instances serious - violence filed by immigrants from the Magreb, an investigation was carried out and three Spanish nationals were arrested on 7 November 2003 and charged. Other police reports refer to lawful police action against immigrants from the Magreb who forcibly resisted expulsion orders. In every case, the incidents are unrelated to the world of work and concern acts by individuals. Consequently, they cannot be regarded as a wave of xenophobia involving organized extremist groups.

3. The Government of Spain condemns any act or conduct of a racist or xenophobic nature against foreigners on Spanish territory, whatever their nationality or administrative status. Combating racism and xenophobia and imposing sanctions for such acts or conduct is an integral part of its immigration policy. It consistently takes measures at provincial level to prevent and deal with all racist or xenophobic violence against immigrants. These measures include: constant surveillance of extremist groups and individuals known for their racist or xenophobic ideology; positive treatment of immigration in the press and media; contacts with political, trade union and immigrants’ organizations; immediate action on any complaints of ill-treatment or exploitation of immigrant workers; educating police in observance of the rights of immigrants and the immediate sanctioning of any ill-treatment of immigrants by the police; and support for any initiatives for the social integration of migrants, whether from the Magreb or elsewhere.

4. The Committee observes that in February 2000, there were serious acts of violence in the El Ejido region against Moroccan workers and their families (see the observations of 2000 and 2002). The Committee notes that, according to the detailed information supplied by the Government in response to the FDT’s new allegations, in the autumn of 2003 Moroccan immigrant workers were assaulted in the El Ejido region, but the assaults were perpetrated by individuals and were not part of some organized wave of xenophobia. In the Committee’s view, since serious incidents already occurred in 2000 in the same region, any violence, even isolated instances, against immigrants or persons of foreign extraction warrants the utmost attention. The Committee takes due note that the Government strongly condemns any racist or xenophobic acts against foreigners on Spanish soil, and notes the measures that the Government has taken to prevent and deal with such occurrences. Since, as the Government points out, the incidents in question would appear to stem from the coexistence of different communities and not from unequal treatment or discrimination in employment of the kind dealt with in this Convention, the Committee will pursue its examination of the matter in the more general context of measures to be taken by the Government under Convention No. 111 to eliminate discrimination in employment on grounds of race, colour, religion and national extraction.

5. The Committee hopes that the Government’s next report will contain the information it requested in its 2002 observation concerning the activities of the bodies responsible for immigration policy that were created in 2001, and on the measures taken to provide immigrant workers with employment and working conditions that meet the requirements of the Convention.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2006.]