Teresa Gisbert, coordinating chief prosecutor for minors at the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office, has firmly rejected a demand by the Partido Popular for the immediate return of unaccompanied minors from Ceuta to Morocco. In an interview with Cadena SER on 20 August, she said such a measure “makes no sense”, because the law requires a prior, individual assessment of the child’s best interests. According to the interviews conducted so far, most children did not want to return to Morocco but wanted to go to mainland Spain; these statements form part of, but are not the outcome of, the legally required safeguarding assessment.
Gisbert referred to the binding legal framework: the European Convention on Human Rights, with UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Spain’s Foreigners Act and the law on the protection of minors are applicable. The European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum also applies gradually; it permits returns only if guaranteed procedures are followed. “Not instant, not direct and not exclusive” means that blanket measures without an assessment are unlawful. A personal hearing, qualified interpretation, enquiries into family ties and an assessment of the actual risks to each child are always required.
Gisbert’s appearance came amid renewed arrivals of minors in Ceuta since the end of July. The Partido Popular and its leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo had called for minors to be returned to their countries of origin immediately. Gisbert countered that decisions must be based on each individual case and documented in a way that can withstand judicial scrutiny. Collective or automatic transfers are incompatible with the rules cited above.
Politically, the dispute increases pressure on Madrid to make procedures transparent: which authorities are responsible and when, how accommodation and care are ensured, and what criteria determine whether a child stays, is reunited with family or returns. In practice, Gisbert’s position means that authorities must have capacity at short notice for hearings, interpretation, guardianships and enquiries into children’s origins and possible risks. She also stresses that children’s statements – such as a wish to reach mainland Spain – must be taken into account, but not routinely overridden or treated as the sole basis for a decision. The debate over Ceuta therefore remains a test of whether migration-policy aims can be reconciled with the procedural safeguards of children’s and human rights.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).