Children as young as seven are sleeping on the streets in Ceuta alongside an estimated 2,000 other children without protection or adequate support, with the recent influx of migrants triggering a humanitarian crisis, Save the Children said.
While the total number of children and adolescents outside the protection system is still unknown, organisations working on the ground have told Save the Children it is likely about 2,000.
A team from Save the Children is currently in Ceuta to assess the conditions in which children and adolescents are living, identify their most urgent protection needs, and detect any situations of vulnerability.
Jennifer Zuppiroli, migration specialist at Save the Children, said:
"We are in Ceuta and seeing children as young as seven sleeping on the streets, without any supervision, afraid and abandoned to their fate, with only one or two meals a day. There are children whose whereabouts are unknown, who may be sleeping on the streets, hiding, or staying in other places without the necessary safety and security.
“We are facing a humanitarian situation that requires urgent resources, such as the creation of safe spaces for these children. Every day a child remains on the increases their exposure to violence, exploitation and other serious risks, and their chances of accessing the protection to which they are entitled decrease.
“Girls can become especially invisible in an emergency of this magnitude. We need an active search that allows us to locate even those who do not approach the authorities and ensure that no one is left alone and unprotected on the street.
“The responsibility for protecting these children cannot fall solely on Ceuta. Transfers are essential to decongest the system, but we also need to reinforce resources in Ceuta while there are still minors who have not yet been located or cared for, and increase coordination with social and community organisations to reach everyone.
“The State must immediately mobilise the resources needed to ensure no child sleeps on the streets and that Ceuta has the support it needs to respond to this emergency.”
Save the Children is calling on authorities to immediately strengthen the teams and resources dedicated to locating, identifying, and protecting girls and boys who remain outside the system, and to ensure every child has access to a safe place to sleep, food, water, healthcare, specialised support, and psychosocial assistance.
The child rights organisation is also calling for urgent transfers of unaccompanied children to other autonomous communities in Spain, in line with established mechanisms, alongside an assessment of all available public spaces - including those owned or managed by the State, the autonomous communities, or the city of Ceuta - that could be used to provide safe accommodation so no child has to sleep on the streets.
Save the Children reiterates its willingness to support the relevant authorities, offering its expertise in child protection and migration to help ensure an effective and appropriate response to children’s needs.
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MEDIA CONTACT: media.team@savethechildren.org.au