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Rabat — A Spanish court based in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta sentenced former officials to be disqualified for nine years from public office for illegally repatriating 55 Moroccan minors in 2021.
The sentences concerned the former government delegate in Ceuta, Salvadora Mateos, and the former first Vice President of the enclave, Mabel Deu.
This means that the two former officials will be barred from holding public office for nine years, El País reported. This includes all elected positions, whether at the national, regional, or local level.
The two former executives will also be banned from exercising any government duties.
The Spanish news outlet said the case dates back to May 2021, when at least 15,0000 people crossed the border of the enclave amid a previous diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain.
The former executives have ordered the repatriation of the minors, disregarding legal procedure.
Mateos was “aware that it did not comply with any legality,” El País quoted the ruling of the court as saying today.
The decision also ignored provisions of the 2007 agreement between Morocco and Spain on international norms and principles, as well as on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The ruling stressed that the decision to repatriate the minors did not take into account whether they were in a vulnerable situation in their country of origin.
Disregarding the legal procedure, the former officials convened in a meeting and decided to proceed with the “immediate return” of the unaccompanied minors.
Spain and Morocco have been stressing their commitment to continue strengthening a humanitarian approach to tackle irregular migration.
In January, Spain allocated €2.5 million to Morocco for border surveillance equipment and vehicles.
The new funding comes as Spain reported unprecedented migration pressures with over 63,970 irregular arrivals in 2024, marking a 12.5% increase from the previous year.
