Ceuta's Migrant Repatriation Challenges
The authorities in Ceuta have indicated that the process of repatriating migrants currently in the city back to Morocco could extend over a full year if the existing pace of handling removal requests persists. This forecast was provided by the city's government leader, Juan Vivas, amid increasing local pressure on Madrid to expedite the procedures associated with the aftermath of the mass crossing that occurred at the end of July. Vivas noted that, based on the information available to Ceuta’s authorities, only about 25 to 30 cases are being processed daily, a figure that he believes is insufficient to restore normalcy in the near future, especially given the thousands of migrants still present in the city.
However, Vivas acknowledged that these figures are not official and pointed out that the central government has not supplied local authorities with the requested data regarding the number of ongoing removal cases. Consequently, the local government has had to rely on what he termed "reliable external sources" for their information. He emphasized that the city cannot continue to endure a state of "anxiety and abnormality" that has persisted for more than three weeks, urging the Spanish government to mobilize more police and immigration personnel to accelerate the review of cases and make timely decisions regarding each individual.
Calls for Urgent Action and Support
The Spanish official criticized the current approach of merely relocating migrants from informal camps to other areas within Ceuta, arguing that redistributing them within the city does not address the core issue, which he links to the slow processing of asylum requests and residency and removal cases. In this context, Vivas called for the immediate deployment of a team from the asylum and refugee office to Ceuta to process international protection requests on-site, thereby speeding up the decision-making regarding who is eligible to remain and who must undergo repatriation procedures.
These remarks were made during a joint appearance with the President of Andalusia, Juan Manuel Moreno, who also expressed concern over the continued absence of official statistics, more than three weeks after the mass crossing, regarding the number of migrants still in Ceuta or the number of minors among them. Moreno found it incomprehensible that three weeks could pass without precise official data for a country as significant as Spain, urging Madrid to send additional staff to Ceuta and utilize available administrative resources to quantify the numbers and expedite case processing.
Moreover, the Andalusian official urged the Spanish government to activate available European mechanisms, including seeking assistance offered by the European Commission and collaborating with the European border control agency, Frontex. He asserted that the crisis in Ceuta is no longer merely an internal Spanish issue but also pertains to the southern borders of the European Union. This stance comes at a time when the European Commission has stressed the importance of protecting minors in Ceuta while simultaneously affirming its expectation that all individuals who entered the city unlawfully must be returned to Morocco, in accordance with European and international law.
Both Vivas and Moreno believe that those who entered Ceuta unlawfully should indeed return to Morocco through the applicable legal channels, but the contention primarily revolves around the speed of these processes and the Spanish administration's capacity to manage thousands of cases in a short timeframe.
As reported by ar.telquel.ma.
