Moroccan Minors Flee Spanish Centers, Choose Streets Over Repatriation

Some minors claim that their families advise them not to return to Morocco. This is why they prefer to stay in Spain, regardless of the difficulties. "We are no worse off here. In Morocco, either you are in prison, in a grave or addicted to drugs," says one of them to RTVE. Another wants to join his brother who is pursuing his studies in Spain and living in better conditions.

To read: article 2911

These minors, aged between 13 and 16, therefore prefer to live on the street where they sleep under the stars and beg for food. They usually hide in the port area and watch for any opportunity to sneak into a truck or ship and cross the strait.

The inhabitants of Ceuta express their generosity to these minors by giving them food and clothes. The latter claim that they would not have left the centers if the living conditions had been good. "With the Red Cross, everything was fine, but now things are different," they lament.

To read: article 6242

Since last Friday, fifteen minors have been repatriated each day from the centers to Morocco. The operation, conducted by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, is denounced by the Ombudsman, the UN and several human rights organizations, who have called for its suspension, raising the illegality of the procedure. The courts have finally suspended these collective returns and asked the Ministry of the Interior for explanations.