Minister Sira Rego insists on the urgent reception of migrant minors in Ceuta to the Peninsula

The Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego, has once again insisted this Monday on the need to proceed with the reception on the Peninsula of migrant minors who are in Ceuta, a measure that she has considered "essential" to "de-escalate" the crisis situation in the autonomous city and "guarantee care." Rego has specified that there are 1,478 migrant minors who are identified and in protection centers in the autonomous city, which are added to the 1,200 minors that the Government estimates remain to be affiliated.

In an appearance before the Children and Youth Commission of Congress to report on the migratory crisis in Ceuta and the reception of minors, the minister indicated that, within this group, the Government estimates that there are 760 migrant girls in Ceuta, of which 233 are under 13 years old, with very diverse profiles, including girls fleeing sexual violence, abuse, forced marriages, street situations, or a notable number who belong to the LGTBI+ collective. The Government is working on transferring 500 of them to the Peninsula.

“What we have to answer is whether we consider that it is viable for these more than 2,000 children to be in Ceuta,” he stated, or whether “a reception in the Peninsula of at least the most vulnerable profiles can be proposed,” he stressed, during his reply to the groups in his appearance in Congress.

Rego has indicated that another possibility for transfers are bilateral cooperation agreements between communities because the guardianship of unaccompanied children is the responsibility of the autonomies "which can bilaterally agree on urgent reception, without waiting for other procedures", and a third option is family foster care, for which many families have spoken.

Regarding family reunification, he said that it has always been done and will be done when it is safe, but he stressed that while “those procedures are resolved, these children cannot be left helpless,” but rather they must be protected and Ceuta “cannot carry this weight alone” because “it is neither fair nor materially possible.”

“Just because the geographical border is there does not mean that the responsibility lies only with the people of Ceuta, childhood is a responsibility and a matter of the country,” he stressed. Furthermore, he has defended that the fact that a State "cannot take a child, put him on a bus and expel him without listening to him, without knowing where to return him, is not a bureaucratic weakness", but a "democratic conquest".

Regarding Morocco's collaboration, the minister also explained that Spain had already sent around 600 files to the neighboring country to verify the situation of these minors and Rabat's response has been "silence."

In defense of migrant minors, Rego has stressed that boys and girls who arrive alone in Ceuta are “victims” and that their protection must be left aside from any partisan dispute. "Boys and girls are not invaders, they are subjects of law. Those who have arrived alone in Ceuta are victims of exploitation, abandonment and abuse," he defended.

“Singling a child is not protecting a border, it is hiding the geopolitical interests that are using them to issue threats and sow chaos,” he stated.