The Spanish Supreme Court is set to examine whether an agreement signed between Spain and Morocco in 2007 permits the return of unaccompanied minors without due administrative process.
This comes in light of the trial of Spanish officials after they deported 55 minors in August 2021.
Europa Press reported that the court will focus specifically on Article 5 of the agreement which stipulates “cooperation in the field of prevention of illegal immigration of unaccompanied minors, their protection and their agreed return.”
The court will also analyze various articles of the Decree on the Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain, and the organization of organic law on the rights of foreigners in Spain.
The incident in question occurred in August 2021 when numerous unaccompanied minors crossed to Ceuta.
The article in question clarifies that a migrant child can only be returned “in strict compliance with Spanish legislation, the rules and principles of international law and those enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the competent Spanish authorities.”
In response, Mohamed Benaissa, head of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights, stated that the agreement between Morocco and Spain “has not been updated even with the human rights development, whether on international agreements or the decision of the European Court.”
He argued that children cannot be returned to environments where their rights are violated, and stressed the need for committees to assess the conditions for a child’s return.
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