Spanish Court Halts Deportation of Migrant Minors to Morocco from Ceuta Enclave

Most of the migrants had been sent back to Morocco shortly after their arrival in Ceuta. But there were nearly 900 minors who remained, and whose repatriation began last Friday via the Tarajal border post, exceptionally opened for the occasion. An illegal act, according to two non-governmental organizations, who referred to the Ceuta court to block the process.

According to Patricia Fernández Vicens, lawyer for one of these two NGOs, Coordinadora de Barrios, this return to their country of origin "is legal and possible only if it is accompanied by a series of guarantees," she explained to AFP. For the Ceuta court, which ruled in favor of the NGOs, "the only possible solution" was the suspension of the repatriation of these twelve minors pending the examination of their file.

The government does not see it that way. On Monday morning, the Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, had once again justified these returns of minors. He stressed on Cadena Ser radio that "vulnerable" minors were not affected by the repatriation measure and that "the best interests of the child were guaranteed." Explanations swept away by the far-left party Podemos, calling on the Prime Minister to put an end to the repatriation.