Spanish Police Arrest Moroccan Parents for Abandoning Children to State Care

The Spanish National Police has been conducting an operation for a few months to limit the abandonment of minors by their Moroccan or Algerian parents. Last month, eight people were arrested for abandoning minors. The latter had gone to seek protection in the children’s centers, police stations and barracks in the province of Alicante.

These eight arrests add to the five others recorded between September and late October after the arrival of 15 unaccompanied foreign minors (MENA) in the city, recalls Información. The Unit against Clandestine Immigration Networks and Forged Documents (UCRIF) of the Alicante provincial police opened an investigation after the massive arrival of these minors, admitted to the dedicated reception centers.

The investigators discovered that these minors, of Moroccan and Algerian origin, arrive in Spain by air or sea accompanied by their parents, guardians or trusted persons of their parents. Once in Alicante, the escorts abandon them in places near the police stations, children’s centers and other public bodies and return to their countries of origin.

The plan is well-crafted for the Spanish administration to take care of these minors. Recently, a Moroccan teenager arrived in Alicante after traveling by plane from Morocco to Paris, from where he was driven by car to Crevillent where one of his brothers lives. After living with him for some time, he went to the Civil Guard barracks as an MENA. Once the trick was discovered, the police arrested the brother for abandonment.