The disappeared, the open wound of Ceuta

MadridTheir trail has been lost in the Mediterranean. And every time we talk about the immigrant people who have tried to cross this sea, the balance becomes more sinister. And painful. Like an open wound. These are the disappeared bodies from the migratory crisis in Ceuta, who will never be identified or even located. Statistics can tell us little or nothing about them, although, to get an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy, some have kept in mind the number of emails that arrived on the first day the Civil Guard's missing persons reporting office was launched, on August 4th. "160 emails in one day," police sources reveal to ARA. This does not mean that, as the days went by, relatives or friends could not contact the person they knew nothing about. But, initially, they had had no news of him since July 30th, when, along with tens of thousands of people, he tried to swim across the border between Morocco and Ceuta. A crossing that, for many, has ended in shipwreck.

It is known that the trickle of reports has not stopped since then, as police sources explain. For the moment, no official figure has been released. Furthermore, the Civil Guard's office and email are not the only way through which families report not having news of a relative since July 30th. Many parents, siblings, or aunts/uncles looking for a relative have also contacted NGOs and entities in Morocco and Ceuta, such as the Red Cross, or have used social networks; the same channel that led many to throw themselves into the sea. "In the first two weeks we received many calls from people looking for their relatives [...] Now, only from time to time," explains Ramsés, a social educator from the Elin organization in Ceuta.

Ibrahim, Salma, Omar, Mohamed or Najat are some of the names that accompany many of the photos that fill social networks, especially Instagram and Facebook, and which media outlets and human rights organizations like No Name Kitchen are echoing.

At the same time, many women are approaching the El Tarajal border crossing, but on the Moroccan side, in Findeq (Castillejos), hoping to receive news about their son about whom they have heard nothing for more than three weeks, as reported by various media located in that city.

Difficulties in reporting

For them, crossing the border is a difficulty, police sources acknowledge, and accessing the Civil Guard office in Spanish territory. It should be taken into account that Moroccan citizens who can enter Ceuta or Melilla without a visa, and provided they do not stay overnight in the autonomous cities, are only those holding an F authorization. That is, border workers. The rest of the people need a visa and a valid passport. Different NGOs have reported that these obstacles constitute a "criminalization" of families.

For this reason, some are trying to locate relatives or friends who live in Ceuta and have them approach the El Tarajal border, between Morocco and Ceuta, where the Civil Guard's missing persons office is located, to file a report and provide information about the missing relative. There they leave all possible data: the description of the person, but also characteristic features, such as whether they have tattoos. Fingerprints and DNA samples are also taken.

"Filing a report must be facilitated. One tool would be to enable consulates and allow DNA samples to be taken there. Perhaps now is the time to do it for families who are in Morocco; for them to file a report. The authorities must be proactive," claimed Helena Maleno, from the NGO Caminando Fronteras, in a conversation with ARA at the beginning of the tragedy.

Many human rights NGOs have been demanding for years that the European Union and its member states implement more effective rescue policies to prevent these kinds of tragedies. They ask, for example, to create a European rescue device that can reduce deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean. While border control and reinforcement is an "success," as the EU itself highlights, social entities and displaced persons denounce the lack of legal and safe routes.

First burials

The information on the missing people is crossed with that of the forensic doctors who have carried out the autopsies and identifications. As of Friday, of the 86 bodies recovered by the Spanish authorities, six had been identified. However, if the victims at the Moroccan border are added, the deaths exceed 140, according to NGO calculations.

For the moment, Morocco has refused the repatriation of the country's natives, as reported by El Faro de Ceuta and confirmed by ARA. The Alawite country, unlike other states, does not make it easy for families to pay for repatriation, which is very expensive, making it an impossible mission for the poorest.

The bodies of these victims were at the old Military Hospital in Ceuta, where a morgue has been improvised. In the autonomous city, burials are usually done quickly, as in Melilla or the island of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, which have few resources despite being constant arrival points for immigrants, many of whom lose their lives during the crossing.

Easing the pain

This time the process has been extended to try to identify as many people as possible until this Friday, and after a court order, 18 people were buried, all of them young men. None identified. No names. Only the numbers on the tombstones: from 5408 to 5425. On Saturday, 12 more. The burials have taken place in the Muslim cemetery of the Sidi Embarek mosque, where the bodies were transferred four at a time. Beforehand, however, a collective prayer was held by members of the mosque. Little by little, the rest of the burials of the victims who have not been identified will be carried out.

"Things like the prayer humanize them [the victims] and are extremely important for the families. Knowing that the undertakers of Ceuta carry out this entire process as dictated by the Muslim religion, is a way of humanizing and alleviating the pain of the families, and their own," reflects Maleno. It is often difficult to find relatives because, just like the disappeared, it is practically impossible to obtain DNA samples. "Resources are needed for the living [people], but also for the dead, the disappeared, and their families," adds the activist.