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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 19 Aug 202619 Aug 2026<\/p>\n
Spain plans to transfer about 500 unaccompanied children from its North African enclave of Ceuta to the mainland, after tens of thousands of migrants recently surged across the border by land and sea.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Ministry of Youth and Children told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday that the provisional figure covers the children it considers most vulnerable, following the mass crossing<\/a> of people from Morocco on July 30.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n Migration Minister Elma Saiz told public broadcaster RNE that the relocated children would be placed under the care of child protection organisations on the mainland.<\/p>\n The recent influx of more than 70,000 migrants left Ceuta\u2019s child-protection system at more than 4,600 percent of its intended capacity, the enclave\u2019s government said.<\/p>\n Madrid allocates Ceuta an ordinary reception capacity of 29 places, but shelters are now holding about 1,350 children, RTVE reported.<\/p>\n Under Madrid\u2019s relocation plan, the children would be spread across Spain\u2019s autonomous regions, placed in foster care or reunited with relatives.<\/p>\n Ceuta\u2019s government has accepted the transfers as an \u201cextraordinary measure\u201d, Spanish newspaper El Pais reports, but maintains that deporting everyone who entered irregularly, including minors, remains a \u201cpriority objective\u201d.<\/p>\n Sira Rego, the youth and children minister in Spain\u2019s pro-immigration government, rejected talk of deporting the children, calling it \u201coutrageous\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cReturn must be voluntary and accompanied by safeguards,\u201d she wrote on social media.<\/p>\n The United Nations children\u2019s agency, UNICEF, has warned that hundreds of children in Ceuta face \u201cinsecurity and unsanitary conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n