Dozens of Moroccan-Spanish Dual Nationals Remain Stranded in Ceuta Amid Repatriation Challenges

Dual nationals are among these 40 Moroccans stranded in Ceuta since the start of the coronavirus crisis. These are considered stateless. They hope that a solution will be found for their return to Morocco.

The Spanish authorities are apparently not willing to help them, as they consider this to be an unjustified source of expenditure. The autonomous government of Ceuta and the central government of Madrid had meanwhile engaged in a budgetary tug-of-war over the issue of housing the stranded Moroccans. The latter had then been housed with undocumented minor migrants, without papers or of Maghreb origin, in a covered hall called "La Libertad".

Some Moroccans had left this reception center to settle in shelters. For now, the Ceuta authorities have announced the closure of this center and the expulsion of the migrants who are there towards Morocco.

The 266 Moroccans repatriated to Morocco are still in quarantine in one of the hotels on the Tetouan coast. None of them would be a carrier of the coronavirus.