Rabat – The European Commission said Tuesday that Spain should return all migrants who remain illegally in Ceuta to Morocco, including unaccompanied foreign minors who entered the Spanish-occupied enclave during the recent mass crossings.
European Commission spokesperson for Home Affairs Markus Lammert made the remarks during a press conference in Brussels, saying EU law also provides for the return of unaccompanied minors in irregular migration cases.
“We continue to insist that the expectation is that everyone who remains illegally in Ceuta will be returned,” Lammert said, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Asked whether “everyone” included minors, despite their special protection under EU law, Lammert said the issue was covered by European legislation.
He pointed to the EU migration directive approved in June, saying it includes provisions for the return of people in an irregular situation, “including unaccompanied minors.”
“So this is also covered by EU law,” he added.
Lammert said the European Commission expects all people remaining illegally in Ceuta to be returned and called on Spanish and Moroccan authorities to work together to ensure the returns take place effectively.
His comments come after Morocco has repeatedly called on Spain to return Moroccan unaccompanied minors who remained in Ceuta and expressed willingness to facilitate their return. “We are demanding their return. This is not an issue that emerged today, yesterday, or because of the latest incident,” Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi said last week.
Lammert also said Brussels was ready to “facilitate and support” the process. He welcomed Spain’s decision to increase its reception capacity to address what he described as the “humanitarian situation” involving irregular migrants in the enclave.
Thousands remain in Ceuta
The European Commission also said it does not have an exact figure for the number of migrants who remain irregularly in Ceuta following the mass crossings at the end of July.
Lammert said the figure was “not clear,” but estimated that several thousand people could still be in the enclave, including unaccompanied minors.
“We rely on the different estimates that reach us from the field,” he said, referring to information from Spain’s central government, local authorities and other actors.
“But it is clear that there are still several thousand people in Ceuta in an irregular situation, including unaccompanied minors. The exact figure is not clear,” Lammert added.
The comments come as Spanish authorities continue to assess the number and status of migrants who entered Ceuta during the mass crossings from Morocco in late July.
Spanish media reported today that Ceuta registered 2,168 migrant minors, with the number expected to increase as new minors are located and identified.
The presence of unaccompanied Moroccan minors has become one of the main challenges for authorities in the enclave, which has limited capacity to accommodate them.
