Ceuta’s €25m child fund meeting hit by Vox boycott
Ceuta’s €25 million fund for migrant children goes before Spain’s regional governments on Thursday, 27 August, but Vox representatives from Aragón, Extremadura and Castilla y León will not attend. The meeting follows mass arrivals in Ceuta on 30 July.
The Ministry of Youth and Children will discuss emergency money to care for the children. Vox regional vice-presidents Carlos Pollán, Óscar Fernández Calle and Alejandro Nolasco have asked for their opposition to moving unaccompanied migrant children from Ceuta to anywhere else in Spain to be entered in the minutes.
They say their regions are already under strain. They also argue that the government should settle each child’s individual administrative position, including possible return or family reunification cases, before discussing how the €25 million is shared between regions.
Plan includes move for 500 girls
Minister Sira Rego will again seek a discussion on children arriving alone in Ceuta at the start of the meeting. The addition must be put to a vote after PP-led regions previously resisted putting the issue on the agenda.
Her ministry is drawing up a wider reception plan that includes moving about 500 girls from Ceuta to mainland Spain without transferring their guardianship to regional governments. Options under consideration include compulsory shared reception by all regions, foster families and other faster placement routes.
Child-protection organisations could also care for the most vulnerable children, including girls, in suitable mainland facilities under the plan.
Clash over returns
The PP says a child’s best interests lie with their family and has backed returns for those who crossed into Ceuta. Rego rejects that approach, saying any return must be voluntary and come with safeguards.
She says the process must include hearing the child, involvement by the public prosecutor, protection of rights and cooperation between countries. Rego has accused the three absent regional governments of abandoning Ceuta and its president, Juan Jesús Vivas.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com