Ceuta mayor pushes EU involvement to resolve migrant return crisis

After a prolonged period of inaction by the Spanish government, Ceuta’s president Juan Jesús Vivas is turning to the European Union to help resolve the migrant situation that began with a massive entry on 30 and 31 July. Vivas met EU interior commissioner Magnus Brunner and Mediterranean commissioner Dubravka Šuica in early September, asking the EU to lead a high-level dialogue with Morocco on returning all irregular entrants.

The EU has indicated that finding a solution for the remaining migrants is a priority and that Morocco has expressed readiness to receive them. Vivas emphasizes the need for a specific framework to handle the return of unaccompanied minors, whose repatriation is legally more complicated. The city currently protects 2,048 identified minors, with an additional 700-1,000 children still on the streets, highlighting the humanitarian urgency of the crisis.