Police begin dismantling Ceuta port migrant camp as expulsion orders arrive

The operation at the port

Officers of the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía began taking down the migrant camp in the extension of Ceuta's port early on Sunday, 8 November, as the first expulsion orders arrived for the people housed there. El Faro de Ceuta, citing police sources, reported that the operation began around 6:30 am and that no incidents had been reported. A heavy police deployment cordoned off the whole area. The operation was scheduled for a Sunday so it would not coincide with the school day, because the camp sits next to an educational centre.

Who is being moved and where

The people in the camp arrived in Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. According to the sources consulted, the deadlines for them to apply for asylum in Spain have already run out and their applications were rejected, which is why expulsions are being carried out. They were first taken to the CATE in El Tarajal for identification ahead of their return to Morocco. Police sources said the transfers were split into two groups. One went to other centres with free places, while the other went to the border to be returned to Morocco, and the division depends on whether each person has received notice that their asylum request was not admitted.

Scope of the clearance

It is still unknown whether the camp will be dismantled in full, since that depends on the number of places available at other reception points in the city. Earlier in the same week, Minister of Territorial Policy Ángel Víctor Torres warned that some of the temporary centres would start to be dismantled in the coming days, according to EFE as reported by Notícias ao Minuto. That report says the temporary centres are authorised for more than 7,000 places and that 5,800 people are registered there. The government has up to seven sites in different parts of the city and intends to regroup migrants in some of them so that the others can be emptied and taken apart.

Dispute over the port land

The camp is on the extension of the port, an area where urbanisation had been planned for the coming months. The board of the Ceuta Port Authority voted against ceding the space, but the Ministry of Transport ordered that it be used. The occupants will be relocated to both the CATE and the CETI in the city, according to El Confidencial.