UNICEF warned Wednesday that hundreds of minors in the Spanish city of Ceuta are living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions following the mass arrival on July 30, as they wait to be moved to safe places.

Between July 30 and 31, more than 70,000 people crossed the border from Morocco to Ceuta, many of them minors. Although most returned to their countries of origin in the following days, thousands remain in makeshift camps or wandering through the streets.

UNICEF Spain’s director of Influence, Programs and Alliances, Lara Contreras, said it is urgent that children who are alone be properly identified. She denounced that “hundreds of them are wandering alone through the streets, in unsanitary conditions and with an urgent need for three meals a day and, in many cases, health care.”

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According to the latest Interior Ministry figures, Spanish police identified 2,168 minors in Ceuta so they can be placed at the disposal of the city government and receive the necessary assistance.

The Ministry of Youth and Childhood reported that it is working urgently to bring 500 migrant girls who are in Ceuta to the mainland, as part of a comprehensive emergency plan coordinated with the city amid the saturation of its assistance services.

El Gobierno trabaja en el traslado urgente de 500 niñas a la Península#Ceuta https://t.co/eBi64E9ntV

— El Faro de Ceuta (@ElFarodeCeuta) August 19, 2026

A UNICEF team traveled to Ceuta to promote the launch of the Multidisciplinary Unit for Migrant Childhood Care in Emergencies (Umaime), proposed by the United Nations organization and to be implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Childhood.

UNICEF Spain recalled that after proper identification, the situation and vulnerabilities of each child must be assessed case by case. After that, the spokesperson said, the protection of every child and the fulfillment of their rights must be guaranteed.

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