The Ceuta delegate to the Prosecutor's Office: The Agreement with Morocco was chosen because it was "an exceptional situation"

He says that the returns were by agreement of the Government and that since May he had talks with Justice, the Presidency and the Vice Presidency

CEUTA, 23 Aug. (EUROPE PRESS) -

The Government delegate in Ceuta, Salvadora Mateos, accused of her role in the expulsion of 55 minors to Morocco in August 2021, told the Ceuta Prosecutor's Office that when this return occurred, it was not an attempt to comply with article 192 of the Immigration Law relative to the repatriation procedure for unaccompanied foreign minors, but instead complying with the Agreement with Morocco -never used before- prevailed because it was an "exceptional situation".

The Prosecutor's Office considers that both she and the Ceuta vice president María Isabel Deu could incur in a continuous crime of administrative prevarication by ignoring "voluntarily and knowingly the legal provisions and the procedure established in the current legal system."

During the interrogation of Mateos by the Public Ministry on December 13 "as a suspect", and to whose transcript Europa Press has had access, Mateos asserted that in this migratory crisis "the fundamental thing" was "the well-being of the minor, to ensure the same", and that in that case "it was fulfilled".

Thus, he defended that they complied with article 5 of the Agreement with Morocco because "the rights of the minor were not violated." That article states that any repatriation of a migrant child should only be done "with the strict observance of Spanish legislation, the norms and principles of international law and those established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the competent Spanish authorities."

In line, he stated that "the best thing for the children was taken into account, which is that they be with their parents." And she added that she knew that "the children" arrived at the border with Morocco and said that they wanted to "go back to their parents" and "they were happy to return", which gave her "tranquility" because she knew that handing over the families It was "guaranteed".

In addition, it indicated that the return process was carried out following the legal measures, with a report, treating each minor individually. In fact, he added, he knew that the president of Ceuta had issued a decree to appoint personnel to care for minors, hiring various NGOs to carry out these reports.

It should be remembered that after the massive entry in May, the returns of minors started in mid-August in batches of fifteen until they came to a standstill. Asked why those returns were at that rate, Mateos explained that she agreed with her contact from Morocco that it be like this to be able to make the returns with less stay in an intermediate Moroccan center -- Martil --.

And in this regard, he pointed out that on the second day of starting these returns they realized that some of the minors "were not", to which, the Moroccan authority told them that "if they wanted to pass there was no problem." 55 children passed, six of whom were older, he explained.

During his statement, Mateos also pointed out that it was the Secretary of State for Security that informed him that an agreement had been reached to return the minors, and that it would be Morocco that would return them to their families. He stated, in fact, that he was told in writing on August 12 how that agreement would be executed.

In line, she recalled that she contacted the Spanish consul in Tetouan because she wanted to make sure that the building where the minors would initially be transferred existed and met the necessary conditions, and that the diplomat gave her a full answer, stating that it was "adequate ".

In fact, he explained that he had conversations with 'the chief of staff of Rincón', the Moroccan authority with whom he dealt with the matter, and that he explained that he wanted a guarantee that the minors would be handed over to their families. He explained to him "that he was going to personally control the delivery" at the border.

In addition, he said, there was a meeting between authorities from Ceuta - the vice president attended - and Moroccans at the border in which "it was found that the minors were going to be handed over to their parents."

On the other hand, he argued before the Public Ministry that in the face of this "exceptional" situation, no one in the Ministry or in the Government Delegation expressed their disagreement with the procedure or that it could be contrary to the law. And he emphasized that it was the Autonomous City of Ceuta that requested that the procedure be launched "and when it was seen that there could be a mistake, it was paralyzed."

Regarding this stoppage, the delegate explained to the Prosecutor's Office that she knew from her Moroccan contact that the returned minors were handed over to their parents, and that in fact the Moroccan authority with whom she was verbally dealing with this matter told her that he was "annoyed" due to the interruption of transfers.

On the other hand, in his statement, Mateos asserted that the return of the minors was agreed upon by the Government of Spain in contact with the Government of Morocco, and that since they entered the city of Ceuta in May, she had held talks on the matter with several people from the Executive, among which he cites the Ministry of Justice --in general--, the chief of staff of the Prime Minister and Isabel Valdecabras, who was chief of staff of the then Vice President of the Government Carmen Calvo.

Mateos explained to the Public Ministry that the first person from the Government with whom he spoke was with the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and later with President Pedro Sánchez. He stated that "it was suggested that 1,108 children had entered and there was an urgent need for the children to return to their parents."