Spain plans transfer of 500 migrant children from Ceuta to mainland

By Al Jazeera Staff and Anadolu.

Key points

• The recent influx of more than 70, 000 migrants left Ceuta's child-protection system at more than 4, 600 percent of its intended capacity, the enclave's administration stated.
• Madrid allocates Ceuta an ordinary reception capacity of 29 places, but shelters are now holding regarding 1, 350 children, RTVE noted.
• Migration Minister Elma Saiz informed public broadcaster RNE that the relocated children would be placed under the care of child protection organisations on the mainland.
• The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, has cautioned that hundreds of children in Ceuta face "insecurity and unsanitary conditions".
• "Everyone who entered illegally must legally return to Morocco, " remarked PP official Elias Bendodo.

After tens of thousands of migrants lately surged throughout the border by land and sea, spain intends to transfer concerning 500 unaccompanied children from its North African enclave of Ceuta to the mainland.

After the mass crossing of residents from Morocco on July 30, authorities at the Ministry of Youth and Children informed Spanish public broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday that the provisional figure covers the children it considers most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the recent influx of more than 70, 000 migrants left Ceuta's child-protection system at more than 4, 600 percent of its intended capacity, the enclave's administration stated.

Under Madrid's relocation plan, the children would be spread throughout Spain's autonomous regions, placed in foster care or reunited with relatives.

Ceuta's administration has accepted the transfers as an "extraordinary measure", Spanish newspaper El Pais reports, but maintains that deporting everyone who entered irregularly, including minors, remains a "priority objective".

Sira Rego, the youth and children minister in Spain's pro-immigration administration, rejected talk of deporting the children, calling it "outrageous".

"Return must be voluntary and accompanied by safeguards, " she wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, has cautioned that hundreds of children in Ceuta face "insecurity and unsanitary conditions".

After tens of thousands of individuals crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, the enclave's mayor-president, Juan Jesus Vivas, stated at least 100 died, plenty of from drowning or being crushed by a breakwater as they swam to the enclave.

In practice, the transfer of the children to the mainland has drawn criticism from Spain's opposition People's Party (PP).

"Everyone who entered illegally must legally return to Morocco, " remarked PP official Elias Bendodo. "Everyone: adults and minors."

Far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal resisted the plan, writing on X: "Not one euro from the Spaniards for MENAs, for illegals, for invaders, for human trafficking mafias, for Morocco."

Rego, the youth and children minister, accused the PP of aligning itself with Vox's "racist positions".

Taken together, the developments around spain plans transfer of 500 migrant children from Ceuta to mainland point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.