The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, announced this Friday that a “discreet and careful” operation is being carried out in the Príncipe neighborhood, in Ceuta, to evict some 200 migrant people who were staying in private properties, including homes, garages, rooftops, and other dependencies.
During his speech at the Nueva Economía Fórum informative breakfast, Ángel Víctor Torres explained that the operation continues on the ground and is part of the actions launched after the massive irregular entry of migrants recorded in July in the autonomous city.
“Today we are carrying out a new discreet, careful operation, which involves 200 people who are in the Príncipe neighborhood leaving houses, garages, culminating the actions,” said the minister, while thanking the work of the State Security Forces and Corps in Ceuta.
Torres stated that, while the event in which he was participating was taking place, the Government delegate, the general commissioner, the superior chief of Police and the Civil Guard continued to work on the eviction of people who were in garages, rooftops and homes.
More than 244,000 meals distributed since August 3
In his appearance, the minister defended the actions carried out in the autonomous city and provided several figures on the institutional response. According to him, since last August 3, a total of 244,000 meals have been distributed among the people attended in the area.
In addition, Torres criticized those who questioned the distribution of food to migrants and asked a direct question: “What human right do they defend?”, in allusion to the criticisms received for that measure.
The minister also reported that a total of 13,101 people have been returned to Morocco since last August 10, as part of the operation deployed after the migratory crisis.
Reception places and triage for adults and minors
In relation to the resources enabled for reception, Ángel Víctor Torres indicated that, of the nearly 8,000 places activated in the city, about 6,000 are currently occupied.
Regarding the identification process, he specified that the authorities have completed more than 5,400 triage for adults and 310 for minors in Ceuta. In addition, 3,434 minors have been identified and are being attended within the autonomous protection system.
Of that total, the minister indicated that 114 minors are being hosted by families in the Peninsula and that another 181 have been transferred to autonomous communities in application of article 35 of the Immigration Law. In parallel, a total of 65 files for family reunification have been sent to Morocco, although Torres advanced that these cases have not yet been resolved.
Minors, the “serious problem” for Ceuta in the medium term
In the section dedicated to child care, the minister warned that the guardianship of unaccompanied minors will be the “serious problem for Ceuta in the medium term”. He differentiated this situation from that of adults, about whom he advanced that “the majority will return”, and stressed that the direct return of minors is not legally possible.
“If they go to the border, they don’t cross,” said Ángel Víctor Torres, recalling that the Constitution and the Statutes of Autonomy attribute the guardianship of minors to the autonomous communities and cities.
The minister also urged reflection on the position of the president of the autonomous city Juan Jesús Vivas. “Therefore, if Mr. Vivas, who previously openly defended that they go to the Peninsula, now says that what needs to be done is to return them to Morocco and zero have been returned, what he is saying is that if they don’t want them to go to the Peninsula, they will stay in Ceuta, and, therefore, Ceuta will bear the pressure and those minors in a territory of 19 square kilometers,” he argued.
More than 5,000 personnel and 1,600 agents deployed
Torres also pointed out that the operation on the ground has the support of more than 5,000 personnel and more than 1,600 National Police agents, in an operation that remains active in different parts of the autonomous city.
Asked about the supposed return to “normality” in Ceuta, he replied that the city will have it “when there are no longer National Police and Civil Guard agents or military personnel”. Even so, he specified that “Ceuta will never be Madrid, just as the Canary Islands will never be Lugo”, because they are border territories that will continue to receive immigrants.
Finally, the minister defended that there must be “minimum, stable and permanent infrastructures” in all places susceptible to receiving immigration, in order to prevent a situation like the one experienced in July in Ceuta from being repeated.