[A-List] UK state: Gibraltar

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

The Rock shows it is a hard place

Gibraltar's case is tarnished by its abysmal human rights record

Peter Tatchell
Thursday November 7, 2002
The Guardian

Today the people of Gibraltar go to the polls to vote in a referendum on
whether sovereignty of the Rock should pass from Britain to joint
Anglo-Spanish control. The government of Gibraltar, led by chief minister
Peter Caruana, is resisting joint sovereignty. Opposing a British and
Spanish stitch-up, he insists on Gibraltar's right to self-determination.

This is a fair point. There is something sinister about the way Jack Straw
and his Spanish counterpart have cooked up a deal behind closed doors. The
vast majority of Gibraltarians see themselves as British and want to remain
British. The case for self-determination is, however, undermined by the
unwillingness of the Gibraltar government to support the right to
self-determination of other subjugated nations, most notably nearby Western
Sahara. Originally colonised by Gibraltar's sworn enemy, Spain, it was
abandoned by the Spanish in 1976. This allowed a Moroccan takeover against
the wishes of the Western Sahrawis. Now Britain is contemplating something
similar - a partial handover of the Rock to Spain without the inhabitants'
consent. Gibraltarians are, understandably, up in arms at the prospect.

Earlier this year, I challenged the chief minister during his lecture at the
Royal Commonwealth Society. "If Gibraltar does not support the right of
other nations to self-determination, why should other nations support your
claim to self-determination?" I asked him. Mr Caruana conceded his
government had "not expressed support for the people of Western Sahara, East
Timor or anywhere else". With a dismissive lack of concern, he added: "Why
should we?" Not caring is, of course, the accusation that Gibraltarians
level ceaselessly against the Foreign Office.

Gibraltar's case is further tarnished by its failure to respect the human
rights of its own people. The Rock has the worst human rights record in
western Europe, with immigrant workers, the disabled and gay people treated
as second-class citizens. When I put this to Mr Caruana at his RCS lecture,
he called me a liar but did not specifically refute the abuses I cited.

In 1969, in pursuit of its sovereignty claim, Spain blockaded the Rock.
Spanish workers who had been employed in Gibraltar were prevented from
commuting across the border. To prevent economic collapse, thousands of
Moroccan workers were hastily recruited to fill the mostly low-paid, menial
jobs. More than three decades later, these migrants have few legal rights.
They are not allowed to apply for permanent residence until they have lived
in Gibraltar for 25 years, and even then their applications are often
ignored or mislaid. This 25-year rule contravenes the EU recommendation that
migrants should be eligible for residence after 10 years.

The March for Justice protest in September 2000 presented the government
with hundreds of applications for residence from Moroccans who have lived in
Gibraltar for 25 years or more. Two years on, no response has been received
by any of the applicants. This lack of permanent residence status deprives
migrant workers of many basic rights. They are entitled to only 13 weeks'
unemployment benefit, and those who remain out of work for more than six
months can be deported. The fear of deportation forces many to work for a
pittance.

Despite paying tax and national insurance, Moroccan workers are denied child
benefit. No matter how long a male breadwinner has lived and worked on the
Rock, his family is forbidden to join him. This forced separation of
husbands from their wives and children is reminiscent of the migrant labour
system under apartheid. As in the old South Africa, many immigrant workers
live in squalid, dehumanising government-run hostels, behind a checkpoint
barrier with a 24-hour guard.

But it is not only the human rights of migrants that are violated. Disabled
people lack legal protection against discrimination. Many get no welfare
benefits. Only those born disabled are entitled to assistance; not those who
become disabled in later life.

Gay people also suffer discrimination, with an age of consent of 18 for gay
men, compared with 16 for heterosexuals. When I queried this inequality, Mr
Caruana defended it with the riposte: "What's wrong with that?" Moreover, in
the absence of laws against homophobic discrimination, lesbians and gay men
can be sacked from their jobs, refused service in hotels or restaurants, and
evicted from rented accommodation.

These abuses weaken Gibraltar's claim to the moral high ground on the issue
of sovereignty. If Mr Caruana wants to win the argument for
self-determination, he might do himself a favour by putting Gibraltar's
house in order. When the Rock respects human rights, the international
community might start respecting the Rock's right to decide its own future.