Public Prosecutor's Office in Ceuta refers complaints from migrant minors of ill-treatment to court
Eight adolescent migrants filed allegations of harassment and assault at a reception centre in the Naves del Tarajal. Two workers have been removed from their posts.
Complaints of ill-treatment at a reception centre in Ceuta reach the court
The Public Prosecutor's Office for Minors in Ceuta has referred to a court in the autonomous city complaints filed by several unaccompanied adolescent migrants who claim to have suffered harassment, threats and assaults at the reception centre at the Naves del Tarajal, according to La Vanguardia.
The eight minors identified two workers at the centre to the National Police as alleged perpetrators—a man and a woman—who have been removed from their posts as a precautionary measure. Ceuta's Minors Department immediately transferred all those affected to another facility managed by the autonomous city.
Police sources indicate that two of the young women retracted their statements when they had to ratify their complaints before the Family and Women's Care Unit (UFAM) of the National Police, claiming that their sole purpose was to obtain a transfer to another reception centre. The remaining minors have maintained their complaints.
The General Public Prosecutor's Office has clarified that protective proceedings have been opened regarding the minors affected and that, in accordance with the competent public body, their separation from the centre where they were located was agreed upon. The same sources emphasise that the referral of proceedings to the court follows "strictly functional and organisational" criteria, attributable to the "extraordinary" workload currently borne by the Ceuta Public Prosecutor's Office and the need to avoid "duplicating" the investigation.
The Public Ministry has insisted that there is no "general investigation" into public child protection resources in Ceuta, nor are alleged abuses in centres under autonomous community jurisdiction being investigated broadly. The Public Prosecutor's Office, however, states that it remains "especially vigilant" to any situation that could compromise the integrity, security or rights of minors in its care, and warns that it will act "within its competencies" in response to any act that could constitute a criminal offence.
The prosecutors' sources insist that conveying the idea of a general investigation into Ceuta's child care centres "does not accurately reflect the nature or scope of the actions carried out".
Source: La Vanguardia