Migration : In Ceuta, 85% of the migrant center’s residents are Moroccan

Gone are the days when most of the residents of the Temporary Residence Center for Immigrants (CETI) in Ceuta were sub-Saharan Africans. According to Ceuta Actualidad, the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything, since the center currently houses 227 migrants, 190 of them are Moroccan, 8 are Algerian and 29 are Sub-Saharan.

The number of migrant arrivals has dropped drastically with the closure of the border, explains the local newspaper, which recalls that the migrants who manage to reach Ceuta do so by sea.

Currently, most of the center's residents are unaccompanied foreign minors who have reached the legal age. The day when the border between Ceuta and Morocco opens, the situation of these Moroccans will have to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, it added. Thus, those who have a residence permit or who have applied for asylum will remain in the city, while Moroccans in an irregular situation will be sent home.

In October, data provided by the local government in Ceuta indicated that the number of Moroccan migrants housed by the center rose to 167 out of 461 residents. They are 92 men, 34 women and 41 minors.

The central government has reduced the maximum capacity of said center from 512 to 384 people due to the coronavirus pandemic.