About 5,000 migrants still remain in Spain's Ceuta after mass border crossing

Roughly 5,000 migrants who arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa during a mass border crossing from Morocco in late July are still there, Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Thursday, according to media reports.

According to various official estimates, between 70,000 and 80,000 people crossed the border in a single wave in late July. At least eighty people died attempting to reach Spanish territory.

Thousands of undocumented children

Marlaska said authorities have registered around 1,900 migrants under the age of 18. He noted that identifying and registering minors is now a top priority. The NGO Save the Children offered a different estimate, saying that roughly 4,000 more migrants under 18 remain in Ceuta unaccounted for by the authorities. Under Spanish law, unaccompanied minors are entitled to enhanced legal protection.

In recent days, local officials in Ceuta have cited even higher figures for the number of migrants still in the city — Mayor Juan Jesús Vivas mentioned estimates of 8,000 to 12,000. Meanwhile, some migrants are voluntarily returning to Morocco.

Additional police forces and navy ships

The minister also announced that several dozen more police officers and immigration officials would be sent to Ceuta to speed up the processing of asylum applications and the procedure for returning migrants to Morocco. Since late July, the government has already deployed several hundred additional police officers to monitor the border with Morocco. According to the Europa Press agency, two navy frigates are currently patrolling the waters off the Spanish enclave.

Spain's Ministry of Youth Affairs convened a meeting today to discuss the situation of minor migrants in Ceuta. However, many Spanish regions have already opposed a plan reportedly being considered by the government to distribute unaccompanied minors from Ceuta to other parts of the country.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz