2 Months After Spain’s Worst Border Crisis, Migrants at a Ceuta Tent Camp Weigh Their Choices

Many of the migrants in a sprawling tent village in Ceuta came searching for better economic opportunities. Others fled war and violence, or sought refuge in Spain because of their gender or sexuality.
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Spanish prosecutors are investigating reports of torture and mistreatment of migrants in Ceuta, including minors. Amnesty International published a report in September detailing allegations of inhumane treatment by Spanish soldiers.

“I never thought anything like this could happen,” the artisan said. “We truly believed the people here are good and that the government is decent.”

“Sometimes I ask myself why I even came here, but other times I tell myself that God will help me.”

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A transgender teen swam to Ceuta in July from the Moroccan city of Fnideq. Soon, he thought, he would be in a shelter. Instead, he spent nearly two months at the beachside camp.

He left home because of the challenges of being transgender, he said. He spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisals for his gender identity.

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In Ceuta, he said he briefly lived with extended family, but they kicked him out after learning about his identity. “They didn’t accept my situation,” he said.

Spain’s asylum law recognizes gender identity and sexual orientation as valid grounds for seeking protection. {snip}

In early October, he returned to Morocco after police cleared the camp.

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A soft-spoken 34-year-old man left Tetouan, in northern Morocco, after his brother found pictures of him and his boyfriend on his phone and threatened to report them to the police.

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Consensual sexual activity with members of the same sex is illegal in Morocco, and can be punishable by fines and up to three years imprisonment. Hundreds of men and women are prosecuted annually under such laws, according to the U.S. State Department.

Homosexuality is regularly cited as an asylum claim for Moroccans attempting to flee.

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