Spanish Ombudsman Calls for Halt to Controversial Repatriation of Moroccan Minors from Ceuta

In a letter addressed to the Interior, which launched on Friday an operation to repatriate some 800 Moroccan minors who arrived in Ceuta last May, the Ombudsman asked the authorities to suspend this operation and to comply with the organic law on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration. According to this law, the Interior must request a report on the child’s family situation from the diplomatic representation of the country of origin, before opening a repatriation procedure, RTVE reported.

"The opening of the procedure must be agreed after hearing the minor, and on the basis of the report of the child protection services and the public prosecutor’s office, the administration will decide on the return to his country of origin, where his relatives are located or, failing that, his stay in Spain," the Ombudsman adds in his letter.

Children’s rights organizations, such as Save the Children or ELIN, filed a complaint with the Ombudsman on Friday to denounce the non-compliance with legal guarantees in the procedure for repatriating Moroccan minors. These associations also intend to refer the matter to the competent court in Ceuta to request the suspension of this repatriation operation.

For Save the Children, any collective expulsion is illegal. "We are asking for an individualized management and that no minor be expelled against his will. Their protection must be guaranteed," said the NGO, which recalls that many of these minors have reported, during the interviews it had with them at the end of June and the beginning of July, having been victims of physical violence, abuse or ill-treatment in Morocco before arriving in Spain.

UNICEF also does not approve of this collective repatriation of minors, which it considers unjustified. "It’s a bad surprise. We had not been informed and we are very worried," it says, specifying that "the best interests of the children must be guaranteed and this can only be possible with individualized assessments." "It is essential to know the history of each of them, their needs and their vulnerabilities. They must be listened to and their protection and their will must be taken into account," UNICEF emphasizes.

For its part, the Ministry of Social Rights says it is willing to work with the Interior to put in place "a protocol for the family reunification of unaccompanied minors, in accordance with national and international regulations." But for the moment, it assures that it has not received "any response on this subject" from the Interior.