ARCHIVED - Ceuta courts halt repatriation of Moroccan migrants aged under 18
Setback for the Spanish government as the controversial deportations from Ceuta are suspended for 72 hours
A court in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta has halted the repatriation of 9 of the unauthorized migrants aged under 18 which was ordered by the national government last Friday, casting further doubts over the legality of a shift in policy which as already resulted in another rift in the PSOE-Podemos coalition government.
An objection to the deportation of the minors among the 10,000 or so who surged across the border from Morocco in May was lodged with the court on Monday morning by NGOs on the part of the youngsters whose repatriations were scheduled early this week, and the court’s decision to suspend the repatriation procedure while deliberating the matter was issued shortly afterwards. It is reported that the court’s ruling notes that Spanish legislation allows only those aged over 18 to be deported on the grounds of their being in Spain without authorization.
In the case of unaccompanied minors, it is stated that certain administrative procedures and protocols must be followed and details given regarding the individuals’ relatives and social circumstances in their country of origin, and in the case of the migrants who arrived in Ceuta in May this has not been done. In the light of this, the ruling states, it is not possible to assess the justification for the decision taken by the Ministry of the Interior and the government of Ceuta.
Another Ceuta court later extended the suspension of deportations to all illegal migrants aged under 18 for at least 72 hours, dealing a further blow to the Ministry.
These rulings will be welcomed by critics of the forced repatriation of the minors concerned, but they come too late to affect those who have already been handed back to Morocco over the weekend.
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