The volunteers who assist the migrant women settled in a provisional camp in Sidi Embarek, in Ceuta, have issued an ultimatum due to the exhaustion of their resources: they warn that the food will run out if they do not receive new contributions. Around 250 women remain in the settlement after the minors who were there were transferred this week to a facility in El Tarajal.
The warning comes from the neighborhood organizations that have been taking care of much of the daily attention for more than a month. Uzman Bersabé, from the Social and Neighborhood Movement of Ceuta, has pointed out that the situation has reached a breaking point and that, if the current conditions persist, they will not have enough food the next day.
The camp is located on land provided by the NGO Luna Blanca, next to a mosque in the neighborhood. Before settling there, the women and minors had been housed in a football field that became overwhelmed by the arrival of people. The current solution had also been proposed as provisional while the administrations found an alternative.
The lack of food thus adds a new problem to a situation that the volunteers have been trying to sustain for weeks with private contributions and resources from social organizations. The warning comes after some of the people initially assisted have been transferred to other reception spaces.
The minors have already been transferred
On Tuesday, 67 unaccompanied migrant minors and two boys in a situation of special vulnerability left the improvised resources where they had remained for weeks. They were transferred to one of the facilities in El Tarajal, equipped to receive them with more resources than those available in the neighborhood camps.
The transfer reduced the population of the Sidi Embarek settlement, but did not resolve the situation of the women who continue to be there. The volunteers assure that they continue to take care of basic needs while waiting for a solution to be concretized by the administrations.
Abdellah Mustafa, one of the neighbors involved in the care, explains that the effort has been ongoing since the massive arrival on July 30 and that the daily organization is becoming increasingly difficult. The volunteers also conduct frequent counts because some of the women voluntarily leave Ceuta and return to Morocco.
While that response is being finalized, the organizations maintain daily attention. But the notice issued now introduces an immediate limit: if new supplies do not arrive, the volunteers assure that they will not be able to guarantee food for the people who remain in the camp.