At three years old, Siraj has lived for 26 days under a tent without toilets in Ceuta

Siraj walks hand in hand with his eight-year-old brother between the abandoned buildings. The two children slip behind four old refrigerators before joining their father, who has stayed about a hundred meters away. “We don’t have toilets,” he explains in a report published by El País.

The family previously lived in Fnideq, on the other side of the border. The father is 45 years old. His wife Nihad, aged 39, worked as a cleaner, while he took on occasional jobs. With their children, they lived with Nihad’s mother, surrounded by many relatives.

The four family members reached Ceuta by swimming during the mass crossing of July 30. According to the father, guards helped them after spotting them at sea. Nihad says they took this risk for their children, because they could not offer them housing and a stable life in Morocco.

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Since their arrival, their home has consisted of a tent bought by a woman who had spotted them in the industrial zone. A police officer brought them an inflatable mattress. Their clothes dry on railings and hooks, while the children eat meals distributed by the Luna Blanca association.

The family says that in 26 days, no government agency has come to identify them or inquire about their situation. “No one has come to ask us anything,” laments Nihad. She tells her children that they came to Ceuta for their future. They say they want to study and become footballers.

Hundreds of migrants still without toilets

Siraj’s case is far from isolated. Hundreds of migrants still live in the warehouses and abandoned spaces of El Tarajal, where they have built shelters with pallets, cardboard, tires and plastic tarps. The only association, Luna Blanca, distributed 850 meals over the course of one day.

The most cautious estimates cited by the Spanish daily put the number of migrants still present in Ceuta at around 7,000, including 2,500 minors. The Spanish police had already announced that they had identified 2,168 minors since July 30.

Two temporary reception spaces with a total capacity of 1,800 places have been opened. Three other facilities are to be set up by the Spanish Ministry of Migration, which is responsible for adults accompanied by children. But families continue to sleep outside while waiting for a place.

Médicos del Mundo works daily in El Tarajal. In ten days, its teams examined around 650 people suffering, in particular, from injuries and respiratory or dermatological infections. Healthcare workers also observed panic attacks, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and a significant lack of sleep.

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The organization describes a humanitarian emergency with no visible short-term solution and calls for greater coordination. Meanwhile, Siraj, his brother and their parents remain under their tent, in the middle of an industrial zone that has become an improvised camp, not knowing whether they will be welcomed elsewhere, sent back to Morocco or allowed to stay.