The Government advocates the return of migrant minors from Ceuta to their families and, in cases where it is not possible to receive them

The Directorof Children, Adolescents and Families of the Basque Government, Txema Ezkerra, has insisted that the best option for migrant minors in Ceuta is to try to return totheir families and, if not possible, to receive them, but "inthe right conditions, within the law, and looking at the autonomous communities that are more capable and not taking as many as they are entitled to ".

Interviewed on Radio Euskadi, Ezkerra has pointed out that inthe Basque reception system they are working "above normal capacity" but have not been "completely tense".

He has clarified that the expansion of reception capacity "is not organized overnight." "In order to care for minors, it is not enough to provide spaces for sleep, coexistence and the development of a life project; human and financial resources are also needed, the entire protection system and a whole professional and community network must be articulated," he said.

He has therefore specified that the Basque Government ensured that they were not prepared to "channel the established minors in an improvised manner, without guarantees, without sufficient information, without agreement or planning", precisely in order to safeguard the best interests of the child.

He recalled that "before anything, there is a legal mandate", since the regulation itself states that "it is necessary to ensure the well-being and good care of minors, to filiate, to know who they are, to find families, to make an individual assessment of each other's conditions, to conduct an interview, and in cases where it is safe, to encourage reunion with families by returning to their country".

"In cases where this return is not certain, because a situation of vulnerability has been detected, families have not been found or circumstances are not adequate, then yes, it is received. We are advocating compliance with the law and, above all, the proper care of minors," he said.

Txema Ezkerra has stressed that "the state, rather than distributing minors, must think about protecting them and providing the autonomous city of Ceuta with all the necessary resources, and not just financial resources, to be able to carry out this work and this individualized care, to be able to carry out this filiation, to be able to talk to families and then to determine what is right in each case."

The Basque Council for Welfare, Youth and Demographic Challenge, Nerea Melgosa, warned that the Basque Country will not accept "established and unguaranteed derivations" because if it does, it will mean that "there has been sufficient information, dialogue, no agreement", so they have not sat down to work together.

The director of Children, Adolescents and Families has argued that the Basque Country is "supportive and will abide by the law", but is not prepared to do so "under any conditions or in any form".