Ceuta faces crisis with thousands of unaccompanied minors

Ceuta is experiencing a significant humanitarian and administrative crisis following a mass migration event from Morocco on July 30 and 31. Local authorities report that 3,619 minors are currently being accommodated across 22 provisional and emergency resources. This figure represents a 12,380% increase over the city’s standard capacity, which was designed for 29 children.

The General Council of Spanish Lawyers has raised alarms regarding hundreds of minors who remain unidentified, without legal guardianship, or without being formally admitted into the system. To address this, lawyers in Ceuta are increasingly acting as provisional representatives to protect the interests of these children.

Simultaneously, police are struggling to locate hundreds of Moroccan citizens whose asylum requests were denied. Many have reportedly left reception centers and are currently in unknown locations, complicating efforts to enforce administrative resolutions. In Melilla, local officials are requesting permission to repatriate unaccompanied minors to Morocco, following a model already utilized in Ceuta, to alleviate the pressure on local resources.