Regional governments controlled by Spain's Partido Popular (PP) are threatening to boycott a key meeting on migrant minors in Ceuta scheduled for Thursday, 27 August, according to the Spanish newspaper La Razón. The gathering, a Sectoral Conference between the central government and Spain's regions, is meant to address the fate of unaccompanied children left in the North African enclave after a mass border crossing.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on Morocco's northern coast, one of two Spanish enclaves in North Africa along with Melilla. Its land border with Morocco makes it a frequent crossing point for migrants seeking to reach European Union territory, and Sectoral Conferences are the standing mechanism through which Spain's central government coordinates policy with its regional administrations.
Three PP-governed regions where the right-wing Vox party holds responsibility for childhood policy, Extremadura, Aragón and Castilla y León, have already pulled out of the process. They skipped a preparatory sectoral commission held on 13 August, the first time Spain's Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, sat down with regional governments since the Ceuta crossing.
Minors dropped from the agenda
The rest of the PP-run regional administrations did attend the 13 August meeting, but only after securing one concession: the removal of an informative and discussion item on the care of unaccompanied migrant minors from the agenda of Thursday's summit.
As a result, the formal conference bringing together the central government and the regions this week will approve only one measure, an extraordinary credit of 25 million euros for Ceuta. Rego nonetheless intends to raise the situation of the minors regardless, laying the groundwork for what could become a distribution of children among other Spanish regions.
Weeks ago, Rego said she would try again to persuade the regional governments to help the autonomous city and provide for the children.
PP demands an exact count
The PP has grown wary of recent moves by the government, fearing they signal a plan to distribute the unaccompanied minors currently in Ceuta across mainland Spain. The party is demanding to know the exact total number of children who remain in the city since the mass crossing before any other measure is discussed.
Estimates vary widely. Some charitable organisations put the figure at around 4,000, while Spain's National Police have given a figure of more than 2,000 identifications. The PP says it will not consider any further measures until there is a definitive, exact count and the case files of all the minors have been resolved.
Sources close to the PP-run regions confirmed to La Razón that they are studying a walkout against the minister at Thursday's meeting.
Anger over reported transfer of 500 girls
Tension rose after the government announced days ago a plan to transfer 500 girls to the mainland in coordination with the Ceuta city government. Juan Jesús Vivas, the PP president of the autonomous city, denied working on any such plan and repeated that the only priority is guaranteeing the return of everyone who crossed the border irregularly, whether adult or minor.
Returns slow to materialise
Spain's Interior and Foreign ministers initially said all irregular migrants would be sent back the way they came. But the reality is proving different. Days have passed without the number of illegal foreign nationals remaining in Ceuta falling significantly, and few returns have taken place voluntarily.
The rest remain either in internment centres, in tents being set up by the government, or in overcrowded conditions. Ceuta's authorities are concerned about this entrenched "chaos" and have set themselves the goal, as never before, of expelling everyone in an irregular situation to restore the normality lost since the crossing on 30 July.
What happens next
If the government's roadmap includes distributing the minors among the regions, the PP has signalled it will oppose the move. For now, the PP-run regions, aside from the three governed with Vox, still intend to attend Thursday's meeting with Rego, though each step taken by the government is deepening their distrust.
The PP's warning is direct: either a solution is found with Morocco for the return of all migrants, or a political battle could begin as soon as Thursday with a boycott of Rego's meeting.
