Migrants in Ceuta: the government estimates 2,500 unaccompanied minors

The Spanish government indicates "between 2,400 or 2,500" the unaccompanied minor migrants present in Ceuta, after the mass arrivals of around 72 thousand people between 30 and 31 July, of which 70 thousand returned to Morocco, and assures that the government of the autonomous city and the People's Party "are aware of the shock plan" to transfer at least 500 minor girls from the exclave to the Iberian peninsula. This is what the Secretary of State for Youth and Children, Ruben Perez Correa, said in a radio interview with Cadena Ser.

"We have data from minors who stay overnight in Ceuta's protection systems who have enabled the same residents and indicate that there are 2,400 or 2,500" of unaccompanied minor migrants, "but there will be others who are on the streets," explained Perez Correa.

The previous budget indicated by the Ministry of the Interior indicated 2,168 child and adolescent migrants identified in the exclave.

"They should be quantified clearly, but the city has a territorial complexity and it is proving difficult to identify the global data", added the Secretary of State.

Transfers began in the early hours of the morning to the spaces set up in army tents in Ceuta to welcome around 1,800 of the migrants who live on the beach of El Trampolin or on the streets, since their mass arrival on 30 and 31 July from the border with Morocco. These are 300 more places than those announced on Monday by the Minister for Inclusion and Migration Elma Saiz, the ministry informs in a note. The transfers of the new structures, which began this morning in a coordinated arrangement with the state security forces and the government of the autonomous city, are being carried out "in a voluntary manner, offering people the possibility of accessing these reception spaces in adequate and safe conditions", it is reported. For the Ministry of Inclusion, the priority objective is to provide a response and offer a temporary housing alternative to people who have been living camped on the beach or on the street for three weeks now, in the Loma Colmena area. The initiative is part of the extraordinary device created by the Spanish government in collaboration with third sector organizations, including Engloba and Accem, informs the Inclusion Department. Madrid estimates that at least 5 thousand migrants remained in the Spanish exclave after the mass arrivals of around 72 thousand people at the end of July and the return of the majority of migrants to Morocco in the following 48 hours. The Ceuta government raises the estimate to at least 9 thousand people.