The Minister of Territorial Policy and 'single command' in Ceuta, Ángel Víctor Torres, presented this Monday the balance that the Executive has regarding the immigrants who remain in the public streets, those who are housed in state resources or in the autonomous city, and those who have returned. According to his calculations, after the massive assault on July 31, when it is estimated that around 80,000 immigrants entered, between 17,250 and 17,750 people would have remained in Ceuta.
In interviews granted to Televisión Española and La Sexta, collected by Europa Press, he specified that, "including adults and minors," between 3,000 and 3,500 immigrants continue to be on the streets of Ceuta.
This group is joined by those who are in resources of the Government of Spain, around 6,000 people who are already being identified. Among them are about 500 minors who must be transferred to other centers "because the law requires it" and cannot be "adults with minors."
Additionally, under the guardianship of the autonomous city, there are another 2,000 minors, distributed across 15 facilities enabled by Ceuta. "Which makes a total of about 8,000 people who are in resources in Ceuta," the minister specified.
Every day between 150 and 200 people return voluntarily
Torres has added to these figures those of those who have returned since August 10: "about 6,000 people and they continue to return every day voluntarily." As he indicated, during the last weekend, between 150 and 200 immigrants returned to Morocco daily "voluntarily." They are joined by the 250 expelled for committing crimes.
The minister explained that many immigrants are giving up on applying for international protection, that is, the right to asylum, as they are aware that they do not meet the requirements, given that Morocco is not in the same situation as other African countries that do generate that type of protection.
For this reason, he trusts that most of those who participated in the assault in July will end up being returned to Morocco, although he does not foresee the same for the minors. In this regard, he recalled that the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, has already stated that she believes that most of the children and adolescents will stay in Spain.
"Those who cannot be regrouped, logically the will of the Government of Spain is that they are in the rest of Spanish territory because if not, a situation of overcrowding in the city would continue," Torres has pointed out, emphasizing that the law "does not require" that the autonomous community of destination gives its approval for the arrival of these minors, in response to the regional governments that "refuse to take in those children."
Regarding those who still sleep outdoors, he has indicated that they are concentrated mainly on the beaches of Trampolín and Benítez. His forecast is that within a few weeks all of them could be relocated, between 3,000 and 3,500 people, among whom he also acknowledges there are minors.
Overall, the sum of all these groups places around 18,000 immigrants who remained in Ceuta after the assault on the city recorded between July 30 and 31.
Objective: everyone with accommodation in a few weeks
The 'single command' has expressed its desire that within a short period everyone has a roof. This week, the transfer of 300 women to a more suitable space is planned, while the works and preparations of the camps where the rest of the immigrants will be housed continue. He has admitted that some "sanitation problems occasionally occur, last-minute works."
He has also announced that a new location will be enabled, under the protection of the Royal Decree, "to ensure that everyone can be in those spaces," in coordination with the autonomous city.
Criticism of PP and Vox for their stance on minors
On the other hand, the person responsible for managing the crisis in Ceuta has condemned that "there are those who want this crisis to become entrenched" and has reproached that "it is not understood" that PP and Vox "have voted that they do not want minors on the Peninsula."
"To assert, as representatives of those two political formations also do, that they can be returned immediately, is not only recklessness or imprudence, but it puts President Vivas in a bad light, who has said that they cannot be returned overnight," he has emphasized.
Morocco reinforces the border in response to new calls
Torres has also referred to the calls disseminated on social networks for a new assault on September 23 and has indicated that Morocco is intensifying border control.
Asked if the neighboring country is carrying out that reinforcement and if the Spanish Government has information regarding it, he responded: "Undoubtedly yes, because we have had them on other occasions and diplomacy and the relationship between the governments are in permanent contact to logically reinforce that surveillance."
Ángel Víctor Torres added that "whenever there is a warning, an alert" the "pertinent precaution" is taken and a message is sent to those attempting to enter that they will not be able to stay in Spain. However, he recalled that on other occasions they have received "warnings that later did not materialize."