Spain is working with Morocco to enable minors who remain in Ceuta to return to the Kingdom and reunite with their families, Spanish Presidency and Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said Tuesday.
Spanish authorities have so far identified 1,527 minors in the city following the mass arrivals of late July.
“We are working with the Moroccan government along a fundamental principle, which is to ensure that all the minors who are in Ceuta can be reunited with their families in Morocco,” Bolaños told reporters in Almería.
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While talks with Rabat continue, the Spanish government will ensure that the minors receive appropriate care and that their rights are respected, he said.
“We will guarantee respect for human rights, we will protect the best interests of the child, and we will act with humanity,” Bolaños said.
His remarks came on the same day that Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares again highlighted Morocco’s “fundamental cooperation” following the events of July 30 in Ceuta.
Albares stressed Rabat’s willingness to facilitate returns and said diplomatic dialogue with Morocco had been “fundamental” in managing the situation. He also said Spain would work toward the return to Morocco of people who entered Ceuta.
The situation of the minors has now become one of the main issues in that bilateral cooperation.
Morocco had previously expressed its willingness to receive Moroccan unaccompanied minors in Spain, while pointing to judicial and administrative procedures in the neighboring country as one of the main obstacles to their return.
Bolaños’ remarks confirm that the two governments are now working toward that objective, with family reunification at the center of discussions concerning the 1,527 minors identified in Sebta.
The approach also aligns with the position reiterated Wednesday by Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi, who said Morocco wants its minors to return while stressing that any process should bring them back to their families.
“We do not abandon our children. We want and demand that our children return to Morocco,” Ouahbi said in an interview with Asharq News.
Morocco and Spain already have a bilateral framework governing cooperation on unaccompanied minors. An agreement signed in Rabat in 2007 provides for cooperation to prevent the irregular migration of minors, protect those who reach Spain and organize their return under conditions that respect the laws of both countries and the best interests of the child.
