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Ceuta assault totals diverge
Spain’s prosecution has revised the number of reported sexual assaults in Ceuta since the mass arrival of migrants on 30 and 31 July to 23, with five cases involving sexual assault with penetration and nine victims who are minors aged between 14 and 17.
“La Fiscalía General del Estado ha elevado a 23 las agresiones sexuales a migrantes registradas en Ceuta”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also said it is investigating eight men—four Moroccans, three Spaniards and one Belgian—while the remaining perpetrators have not yet been identified, and the figure was updated from 21 earlier in the day.
Ana Redondo told Congress that “So far, according to the data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, we have 21 sexual assaults on record: 5 with penetration and one attempted but not completed,” while the prosecution’s later update moved the total to 23.
Teresa Peramato had previously told journalists in the autonomous city that “there has truly been an increase in some criminal categories,” saying that in the latest report she received 16 sexual assaults with 17 victims had been recorded, “16 of them women, most of them underage.”
Investigations and identified suspects
Police investigations in Ceuta have continued to focus on reports from women who entered during the migrant surge, with ABC saying the National Police are investigating more than two dozen reports and that UFAM is conducting proceedings based on victims’ testimonies.
ABC reported that there are still more than a dozen individuals who remain unidentified, and it said the figures exclude arrests already made on the spot by National Police officers who control security in the autonomous city.
The prosecution figures cited by El País put the number of sexual assaults at 23 since July 30, and said five of the sexual assaults have been rapes while there is also an assault against a man from the LGBTQ community.
El País also reported that the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating eight men—four Moroccans, three Spaniards, and one Belgian—while the remaining perpetrators have not yet been identified, and it said the updated total came after an earlier report of 21 cases earlier that afternoon.
Courts, protection, and transfers
Alongside the criminal investigations, the Public Prosecutor’s Office data described by El País said nine migrant minors have been attended to at the 24-hour crisis center, and it reported that Redondo asked that victims be allowed to remain beyond the fixed 72 hours “until they have a reliable and secure alternative.”
“until they have a reliable and secure alternative”
El País also said Redondo urged that people not be criminalized for their origin or skin color, quoting her: “We will not allow anyone to turn pain into a weapon to stigmatize and sow hatred,” while warning that racist discourses and behaviors were spreading around the crisis.
In parallel, Antena 3 Noticias reported that Ceuta’s 24-hour Crisis Center is hosting nine minor victims of sexual assault in short-stay residential facilities with 14 places, and it said the autonomous city planned to move more than 300 women to a warehouse in El Tarajal.
Antena 3 Noticias added that 190 women with children were transferred this Thursday by bus to another space located in La Hípica, and it said the situation of migrant minors remained a main challenge for Ceuta’s authorities as the crisis continued.