Spain deported more than a dozen migrants from Ceuta to Morocco — The Independent
Spain has returned more than a dozen migrants to Morocco after they arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and were denied asylum. As The Independent reports, this is the first such deportation from the region since the mass border crossing in July.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said that Morocco had agreed to receive the group and that the people currently remain on Moroccan territory. The ministry did not disclose the official number of deportees or their nationalities.
Human rights advocates’ data
Organizations working with migrants and defending their rights in Ceuta reported the deportation of 16 people from Senegal, Nigeria, Yemen, Cameroon, and Bangladesh. In their view, such returns fail to take into account risks related to Morocco’s treatment of migrants from other countries.
Amnesty International researcher Virginia Álvarez called Spain’s position hypocritical. According to her, the country does not provide human rights guarantees for those crossing its borders in Ceuta and Melilla, despite its progressive rhetoric in Europe. She also stated that Morocco does not respect many human rights.
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Position of the Spanish authorities
A representative of Spain’s Interior Ministry said that the European Union considers Morocco a safe country and that deportations are carried out “with all necessary guarantees.” The ministry provided no further details.
According to the publication, about 80,000 people crossed the border from Morocco into Ceuta within 48 hours in July. Most of them returned within a few days, but thousands remained. Spanish authorities placed 8,000 migrants in reception centers and are considering asylum applications filed by most of the people remaining in the enclave.
Several non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International, also filed a complaint with the Spanish ombudsman. They claim that some of the more than 13,000 people whom the government says voluntarily returned to Morocco since mid-August were forced to leave, including non-Moroccan nationals.
