First such removal since July crossing
Spain has returned 16 African and Asian migrants from the enclave of Ceuta to Morocco after their asylum applications were rejected, according to charities working in the Spanish territory. The removal was the first of its kind from Ceuta since a large border crossing in July and has prompted concern from human-rights organisations.
Spain’s Interior Ministry confirmed that a group had been sent to Morocco after Moroccan authorities agreed to receive them, but it did not disclose the number or nationalities. Migrant-support and rights organisations in Ceuta said those removed were citizens of Senegal, Nigeria, Yemen, Cameroon and Bangladesh. The ministry said they remained in Morocco.
The government maintained that Morocco is regarded by the European Union as a safe country and that the returns were conducted with the required safeguards. It did not provide further detail about those protections. Morocco’s Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment included in the report.
Amnesty International challenged the decision, arguing that Spain had not ensured adequate human-rights guarantees for people crossing at Ceuta and Melilla. The organisation raised particular concern about Morocco’s treatment of migrants from other countries. That criticism represents Amnesty’s assessment; the Spanish government disputes the implication that the removals lacked safeguards.
The International Organization for Migration said it did not participate in deportations or forced removals. Its work with Moroccan authorities is limited to voluntary-return programmes for third-country nationals who choose to go back to their countries of origin. Decisions about removal and destination remain the responsibility of states, the organisation said.
The dispute follows July’s mass movement into Ceuta, one of two Spanish enclaves that form the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. The supplied report said about 80,000 people crossed from Morocco over 48 hours. Most went back within days, while thousands remained as Spain processed asylum claims and expanded reception arrangements.
Spanish authorities were housing about 8,000 migrants in reception centres, with most of those remaining having applied for asylum. The government also said more than 13,000 people had returned to Morocco voluntarily since mid-August. Several non-governmental organisations complained to Spain’s ombudsman that some purportedly voluntary departures, including those involving non-Moroccans, were coerced.
The latest removals bring that broader disagreement into sharper focus. For Spain, the cases followed rejected asylum claims and an agreement with Morocco. For rights groups, the central question is whether returning non-Moroccan nationals exposes them to mistreatment or onward displacement. The publicly supplied information does not resolve that question, but it establishes the legal and humanitarian scrutiny surrounding the operation.
