ARCHIVED - 50 under-age migrants flee custody in Ceuta to avoid deportation to Morocco
The Spanish government has announced the controversial repatriation of 700 young migrants who reached Ceuta in May
The Spanish government is facing a barrage of criticism after reaching an agreement with the government of Morocco by which 700 unauthorized immigrants under the age of 18 are to be repatriated from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in northern Africa to Morocco, having succeeded in crossing the border fences into EU territory in May.
The repatriation of unaccompanied minors who cross into Spain without authorization is theoretically permitted by an agreement which was signed in the past between Spain and Morocco, but the right to deliver the young migrants back to Morocco has not been exercised since the text of the agreement was last revised in 2012. On this occasion, though, with diplomats from both countries keen to ease the tension which was heightened by the mass assault which resulted in around 10,000 migrants swarming across the border into Ceuta in May, the order has been given for the under-18s to be returned to the country from which they arrived.
Since they reached Ceuta they have been held in a detention centre in the city but now the Spanish authorities have justified the decision to repatriate them by stating that this will enable them to be reunited with their families: in cases where this proves impossible they will be transferred to a Moroccan centre close to the city of Tetuán.
No sooner had the repatriation been announced on Friday than various buses began to transfer groups of 15 migrants at a time, but on observing the latest developments around 50 of those detained took matters into their own hands and attempted to escape from the custody of the authorities.
In the meantime, critics of the policy have been quick to make their opinions known, including members of the Podemos political party which forms the current coalition government in Spain along with the PSOE. Podemos representative Ione Belarra claims that this latest development comes after her department in the Ministry of Social Rights has been offering to cooperate in the reunification of migrants with their families for “months”, but no reply has been received.
Save The Children have warned in the past that such strategies should be used only in certain specific cases, and the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has denounced what he sees as a radical change in the attitude of the government towards migrants after those on board the ship Aquarius were welcomed into the country in 2018.
Almost every day boatloads of migrants are intercepted attempting to enter Spain illegally by sea, and the government is fully aware of the growing resentment against unauthorised migration in Spain, which is helping to fuel the rapid growth of far-right party Vox.
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