Children and young people who experience migration processes, alone or accompanied by their families:
are exposed to a multitude of risks and experiences that threaten their rights and their lives. Suddenly leaving their homes, losing loved ones or witnessing multiple situations of violence are experiences that mark the emotional development of these children and adolescents.
in all cases they are taken in by the child protection system, from their first arrival on European territory until they come of age. Foreign minors must be protected and listened to as a priority, guaranteeing their full care and protection, according to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
are potential criminals, incapable of integrating into European culture and should be expelled to their countries of origin.
On 17 and 18 May 2021, thousands of people entered Ceuta, many of them minors. According to the official sources of the Spanish National Police:
920 minors were registered and transferred to the child protection resources set up in the city of Ceuta, according to the official sources of the Spanish National Police.
an indeterminate number of unaccompanied minors were illegally expelled to Morocco, following the declaration of the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, who instructed that all identified unaccompanied Moroccan minors should be returned to Morocco.
both of the above are correct.
In terms of child protection resources for unaccompanied minors in the city of Ceuta:
there is only one center, “La Esperanza”, with capacity for 300 people, and this center is enough to cover the necessities of all unaccompanied minors arriving in the city, guaranteeing the protection, reception and defense of children's rights.
there are different resources, including the minor center “La Esperanza”, which is often overcrowded and does not have enough qualified professionals to ensure the care of minors.
there are always different resources to care for unaccompanied minors guaranteeing the protection, reception and defense of children's rights, through the creation of different centers for minors such as “La Esperanza”, “Piniers”, “Santa Amelia”, or even by adapting industrial warehouses.
In Ceuta all the unaccompanied minors:
are protected by child protection resources.
are protected by child protection resources, but not all, there is an undetermined number of minors who are not in the protection system and who are in a street situation.
prefer to stay in a street situation because they received enough support from the neibought and civil society organizations and they can stay on their own. They are really appreciated by the ceuta population.
According to the interview conducted in this module with Laura Ganado from Maakum, the majority of unaccompanied minors in Ceuta:
come from different North African countries and want to stay in Ceuta as their final destination.
do not consider themselves migrants as they come from cities in northern Morocco and understand that Ceuta belongs to their country.
come from cities in northern Morocco and want to reach the European continent in order to improve the lives of their families.