The National Police have apprehended a foreign national, who works as a university professor in Morocco, on charges of abandoning his two underage children in Guipúzcoa, Spain. The children were subsequently placed in two different shelters managed by the regional government of Guipúzcoa. This incident has raised significant concerns regarding the growing number of unaccompanied minors entering Spain.
According to the Central Government Delegation in the Basque Country, officers from the Provincial Brigade of Immigration and Borders in Guipúzkoa acted under their mandate related to the registration of unaccompanied foreign minors. They registered the two children as unaccompanied minors (MENAs) and communicated with the Child Prosecution Office, facilitating their transfer to appropriate child care facilities. This operation was part of a broader initiative known as 'Operation Zaugarria,' which aims to address the increasing influx of foreign minors into Spain.
In recent times, law enforcement has observed a troubling trend where foreign minors arrive in Spain accompanied by their parents, only to be abandoned shortly after. These parents often leave their children in the care of public institutions, claiming that the minors are in a state of helplessness, thereby leading to the public authorities assuming their guardianship.
As part of an ongoing collaboration between the National Police and other organizations involved in child protection and immigration, investigators recently interviewed two Moroccan siblings, both minors, who were under the care of residential resources Zabalduz Segura 2 and IRSE Arrasate in Guipúzkoa. The siblings disclosed that they had entered Spain in the company of their father, who had accompanied them to Bilbao, fully aware of the necessary steps they needed to take upon arriving in the country.
They reported that their father was with them until they presented themselves at the National Police station in the city as abandoned minors, at which point he returned to Morocco. During the investigation, the minors explained that although they initially stayed at a shelter in Biscay, they were advised by other compatriots to move to San Sebastián, leading them to leave their initial center and seek assistance in Guipúzkoa.
While they acknowledged their father's financial support as a university biology professor in Morocco, they expressed a belief that they would have better opportunities in Spain. Following this revelation, police learned that the father had returned to Spain, specifically to Algeciras, and they arranged for him to be summoned to the police station on March 12.
Following all necessary procedures, the authorities informed the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, the body responsible for the minors' care, to initiate the appropriate administrative actions. Upon the father's arrival in San Sebastián, he was arrested on suspicion of two counts of child abandonment. After the relevant processes were completed, he expressed a desire to take responsibility for his children, leading to a voluntary family reunification facilitated by the Diputación Foral and the residential resources of Zabalduz Segura 2 and IRSE Arrasate, allowing the siblings to leave with their father.
As reported by heraldo.es.
