A court in Ceuta has ordered the Government Delegation in the autonomous city to return to Spain several minors who were repatriated to Morocco last August, for understanding that their fundamental rights have been violated as there is “a relevant risk” of falling into a “situation of abandonment”.
Specifically, the Contentious Administrative Court number 1 of Ceuta has issued two sentences, to which Efe has had access, in which the Government Delegation is ordered to cease the operation to expel these minors and “adopt the necessary measures for the return of repatriated minors”.
In this way, the judge agrees with the Raíces Foundation and the Neighborhood Coordinator, which filed appeals in August on behalf of 20 Moroccan minors against the expulsion process that culminated in 55 expelled, who had entered Ceuta crossing the Tarajal border during the avalanches of May 17 and 18.
These 20 children were welcomed by the childhood area of the autonomous city and housed in industrial buildings in the Tarajal Industrial Park and later in the Santa Amelia Municipal Sports Center, where they resided until the beginning of the repatriations on August 13, according to the organizations.
The judge harshly attacks the actions of the Government Delegation and the Government of the autonomous city because “In this case, it is not that any of the steps in the procedure have been omitted, it is that they have all been omitted.”
In this regard, it warns that “there has been no initiation of proceedings, no request for reports, no argument phase, no hearing process, no evidence phase, not even a resolution agreeing on the repatriation of minors, that is to say, there is no trace of a repatriation file”.
The resolution recalls that the repatriation “it cannot be an end in itself, but must be appropriate to the end it pursues, which is none other than the best interests of the minor.”
Therefore, he understands that there is “a situation of relevant risk for the physical and moral integrity of minors” since “there is no evidence that anyone is going to take care of them once they are repatriated to their country of origin,” which “would determine that they would find themselves in a situation of abandonment or helplessness.”
Also, remember that the bilateral agreement with Morocco does not exempt the Administration from applying to minors the guarantees provided for in the Law and the Immigration Regulations.
“Article 5 of the Agreement expressly requires the “… strict observance of Spanish legislation…” to decide on the return to their country of origin of an unaccompanied minor, Therefore, there cannot be the slightest doubt about the obligation to comply with the procedures established in art. 192 and following of RD 557/11 to be able to agree on the repatriation of a minor”, he points out.
Thus, the judge estimates the claim for violation of the right to physical and moral integrity no longer be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment recognized in the Constitution.
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On the contrary, it considers that there is no proof of the Violation of the right to effective judicial protection and to the personal freedom of minors, dismissing the demands in this extreme.
sources of the Government Delegation They have indicated to Efe that they are pending notification of the sentences, against which there is an appeal within a period of fifteen days.