Not all migrants who remain in Ceuta can be returned to Morocco through the same procedure. Legislation distinguishes between those who are irregularly in Spain, those who request international protection, unaccompanied minors, and individuals who show signs of trafficking or special vulnerability.
The European Commission has insisted that individuals who do not have the right to remain in Spain must be returned, but it also reminds that procedures must respect European guarantees and the specific protection of minors.
Adult who entered irregularly and does not request asylum
The Immigration Law allows for the return of those who intend to enter Spain illegally without the need to process an ordinary expulsion file.
The return must be agreed upon by the competent authority and, if it cannot be executed within the first 72 hours and the intention is to detain the person, judicial authorization is necessary.
There is, therefore, no automatic authorization to remain in Spain merely for having managed to enter Ceuta.
If requesting asylum
The situation changes from the moment a person formalizes a request for international protection.
The Asylum Law establishes that they cannot be subject to return, expulsion, or removal while their application or their admission for processing is being decided.
The irregular entry cannot be sanctioned by itself when the person who carried it out meets the conditions to obtain international protection.
That does not mean that requesting asylum guarantees the ability to stay. If the application is inadmissible or ultimately rejected and there is no other residence title, the person may be subject to a departure or return procedure.
If they are a minor and alone
An unaccompanied minor does not follow the same procedure as an adult.
Once their minority is confirmed, they must be placed at the disposal of protection services. Their residence is considered regular while they are under the guardianship of a public administration.
Spain can subsequently initiate a repatriation, but it must first investigate their family situation and determine that the return is in their best interest.
Legally, it is not permissible to treat these minors as a homogeneous group and return them without analyzing each case.
If there are signs of trafficking
The Immigration Regulation introduces another exception.
A return should not be executed when it becomes evident that the person may be a victim of trafficking, just as it should be suspended if they make a request for international protection or there are indications that it may involve an unaccompanied minor.
The Administration must then activate the specific identification and protection mechanisms.
And traveling from Ceuta to the Peninsula?
Being physically in Ceuta does not automatically imply being able to move freely to any point in Spain while the administrative situation is resolved.
The possibility of transfer depends on the documentation, the procedure in which the person is, and, in the case of unaccompanied minors, on the decisions of the competent administrations.
Precisely, the Government is now preparing specific mechanisms to transfer minors from Ceuta to protection resources in the Peninsula.
Return and "hot return" are not exactly the same
The so-called "hot return" is usually used to legally refer to the border rejection specifically provided for Ceuta and Melilla.
The Immigration Law allows for the rejection of persons detected at the border line while attempting to overcome the containment elements to prevent their irregular entry. The law itself requires respect for human rights and international protection.
This assumption should not be confused with the situation of thousands of people who have already been in Ceuta for weeks. For these latter, the corresponding administrative procedures applicable to their individual situation must be applied.