Spanish authorities will allow 500 migrant minors stranded in Ceuta to be moved to the mainland, The Guardian reports. The measure comes amid serious overcrowding in local shelters, as a result of which hundreds of children are forced to live on the streets and rely on help from locals, reports Focus.
Around 70,000 people entered the Spanish enclave in North Africa on July 30, with most subsequently returning to Morocco. However, Spanish law obliges the state to take care of unaccompanied minors until they turn 18.
The Ministry of Youth and the Ceuta authorities are developing an contingency plan under which NGOs and child protection agencies will take over the care of the most vulnerable children, mainly girls. This is planned to be done without transferring custody to regional governments.
The Secretary of State for Children, Ruben Perez Correa, has been in Ceuta since Sunday and is involved in efforts to resolve the crisis, which has left hundreds of minors without adequate shelter.
The Spanish government's plans were announced just hours after the European Commission said that under EU law the migrants must be returned to Morocco.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion and Migration, as of March there were 21,104 people aged between 16 and 23 in state care, of whom around 3,500 were under 17. Around half were of Moroccan origin, and girls made up around 8% of the total.