Vivas warns that Ceuta cannot assume the situation of minors alone and demands an "exceptional" response

On Wednesday, the first meeting of the Monitoring Committee for the migratory crisis took place in Ceuta after the massive entry of people into the territory, in which the president of the autonomous city, Juan Jesús Vivas, the Minister of Territorial Policy and single command, Ángel Víctor Torres, and ten ministers participated. After it, Vivas reported that the border will be strengthened and the reinforcement of security agents will be intensified.

The Ceuta president detailed that the Executive plans to undertake works "with urgency" aimed at "strengthening the security of the Ceuta border", in addition to increasing the presence of State security forces to prevent a situation like that experienced on July 30 and 31 from recurring.

Vivas has also demanded measures to reduce the "perception of insecurity" among citizens and has asked the State for compensation for the increase in expenses that the local administration is facing as a consequence of the crisis.

Vivas supports the single command

The president of Ceuta has defended the creation of the single command, which he considers a "successful method" because it allows for improved coordination between administrations and the establishment of concrete commitments for the city to "recover normality" as soon as possible.

In relation to unaccompanied foreign minors, Vivas has warned that it is "impossible" for a city of 84,000 inhabitants to assume the situation alone and has demanded an "exceptional" response from the State given the lack of "resources in facilities, economic resources, or human resources."

Likewise, he has prioritized "family reunification" and has defended "the return to Morocco of those who arrived in Ceuta" as the main strategy, although he has asked for specific procedures and deadlines to carry it out.

Finally, Vivas has demanded a "resounding no to violence" during the mobilizations and has assured that Ceuta society "will emerge strengthened" from the crisis.

Sánchez chairs the Situation Committee on Friday

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will chair this Friday by videoconference a new extraordinary meeting of the Situation Committee in charge of managing the migratory crisis in Ceuta. The meeting will follow up on the first meeting of the body, held this Wednesday and headed by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, responsible for the single command created by the Executive to coordinate the response to the situation in the autonomous city.

Torres explained that the shared objective of the central Government and the City of Ceuta is to ensure that the people who remain in the city after the massive entry return to Morocco, always within the legal framework. To advance in this process, the minister considers it necessary to enable specific spaces where those who remain in Ceuta can be identified and registered.

“We share the objective of return in accordance with the law,” Torres said after the first meeting of the Specialized Situation Commission in Ceuta. The minister stressed that, to make this procedure possible, “it is necessary to register in delimited spaces the people who remain in the city.”

“The sooner they are enabled, the sooner returns can proceed,” added the head of the single command, who defended the need for adequate facilities to carry out the identification, triage, and referral process. The Executive has also decided to discard the sports centers initially contemplated as possible reception spaces and to look for other facilities that allow managing the situation without altering the usual functioning of the city. The discarding of these spaces is done at the request of the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas.