GIBRALTAR: ROCK OF INJUSTICE 

Peter Tatchell says Gibraltar wants the right to self-determination but refuses to respect the human rights of its own people 

Today, 7 November 2002, the people of Gibraltar go to the polls. They will 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 and unseemly about the way Jack Straw and his Spanish counterpart have cooked a deal behind closed
doors, over the heads of the people of Gibraltar. The vast majority of Gibraltarians see themselves as British and want to remain British.

The case for self-determination is, however, somewhat 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 take over against the wishes of the Western Sahrawis. Now Britain is contemplating something similar - a partial hand over of The Rock to Spain without the inhabitant's consent. Gibraltarians are, understandably, up in arms.

Earlier this year, I challenged the Chief Minister during his lecture at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London: "If Gibraltar does not support the right of other nations to self-determination, why should other nations support your claim to self-determination?"

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 compassion, he added: "Why should we?" Not caring about the fate of small, far-flung communities is, of course, the accusation that Gibraltarians level ceaselessly against the Foreign Office.

The Chief Minister's don't-give-a-damn attitude towards the Western Sahara is made worse by Gibraltar's vociferous endorsement of the Falkland Islander’s right to self-determination following the Argentine invasion in 1982.

These inconsistencies in Gibraltar's support for sovereignty diminish the moral authority of its bid to decide its own fate. They also evoke a whiff of racism: the self-determination of white Falkland Islanders was defended, whereas the rights of brown Western Sahrawis are ignored.

The Gibraltar government's case is further tarnished by its hypocritical demand for the right to self-determination, while failing 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 vacated by the departing Spaniards.
More than three decades later, these immigrants 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 European Union recommendation that immigrants should be eligible for residence after 10 years, and the UK’s own regulation that new-comers can apply for citizenship after five years residence.

The March for Justice protest in September 2000 presented the Gibraltar government with hundreds of applications for residence from Moroccan immigrants who have lived there 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 immigrant 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, their families are forbidden to join them. 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. "Each floor has three tight corridors of cubicles, with pasteboard partitions and faded floral curtains for privacy", according to a recent report in Red Pepper magazine. "There are no doors and the noise is unbearable".

It is not only the human rights of immigrants that are violated. Disabled people lack legal protection against discrimination. Many get no welfare benefits. Only those born  disabled are entitled to government assistance; not those who become disabled in later life. Many live in poverty, dependent on the charity of family and friends.

Gay people also suffer discrimination, with an age of consent of 18 for gay men, compared to 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 human rights abuses weaken Gibraltar's claim to the moral high ground on the issue of sovereignty. If Chief Minister Caruana wants to win the argument for self-determination, he might do himself a favour by getting 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.

* Peter Tatchell is a human rights campaigner

Copyright: Peter Tatchell 2002. All rights reserved. 

Published in a slightly edited version as: The Rock shows it is a hard place, The Guardian, 7 November 2002.