"We believe that the 100 victims will be far exceeded"

MadridThe Mediterranean Sea, once again, is heading to become larger as a cemetery. The migratory crisis in Ceuta is already the most tragic in recent years on the southern border: "We believe that the 100 [fatal] victims will be far surpassed," anticipates Helena Maleno, founder of the organization Caminando Fronteras, who has been based at this border for years, where she works to defend the rights of migrants.

The latest official figures place the number of fatal victims of a water crossing at 72, as revealed by the Spanish government delegate in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez, this Sunday morning, but the recovery of bodies has not ceased, warns Maleno to ARA. In fact, this Saturday, police sources consulted by ARA took for granted that in the coming hours and days more bodies would continue to appear in the water of people who had attempted to enter from Morocco to Ceuta by swimming, many of them seeking a more promising future than the one they were leaving behind. The founder of Caminando Fronteras also recalls that the Moroccan silence on the number of deaths on their border continues. Some Moroccan digital media outlets, such as Hespress, speak of 20 bodies in the Tetouan morgue, but there is no official confirmation. To the fatal victims, the disappeared persons are added.

"We are talking about bodies of many adolescents. Also of children," reveals the activist. "This gives us an idea of the tragic dimension of these [migratory] routes," she adds. In the images from this Thursday of migrants entering Ceuta by swimming from Morocco, mostly adolescent boys and mothers with their children could be seen. "They are not only Moroccans, but also many immigrants from other origins such as Sudan or Chad," assures Maleno, who recalls that they are potential asylum seekers.

"Now what is needed is for the Spanish authorities to provide as quickly as possible everything the families need [to recover the bodies]. Also the citizens of Ceuta," adds Maleno. The Spanish government will maintain 3,000 officers from the State security forces and bodies in Ceuta, as explained by the Spanish government delegate to the city.

The difficulty of reporting

The first thing that must be guaranteed, relates the activist, is that relatives can file a report with the police for the disappearance of a member. In fact, in the last few hours, requests for information from relatives and friends who have contacted the media and used social networks to report the disappearance of people close to them have grown. Organizations like Maleno's ask Spanish authorities to make consulates in countries like Morocco available to these families so that DNA samples can be collected there.

But it must also be guaranteed that they can go to the morgues to identify the bodies. In the case of Ceuta, however, organizations fear that many of these families will not be able to travel there. And here time can play against them. "Ceuta is limited in terms of refrigerators for storing bodies, and that is why people are buried with some speed, as in Melilla or on the island of El Hierro," assures Maleno, who therefore asks that the Spanish authorities also be "proactive" in the recovery of bodies to return them to the families of the victims.

Two cemeteries

Ceuta has two cemeteries, one Muslim and one Christian, where the bodies of those migrant individuals who are never claimed end up; often due to the impossibility of filing a report, providing information, or identifying the body. "[In the Muslim cemetery] All Moroccan or Algerian individuals are normally buried there. The rest, especially sub-Saharan Africans, in the Christian cemetery," indicates the activist. "If everything is done as it should be, with Spanish protocols, the dignity of victims and the disappeared can be guaranteed," assures Maleno.

Then, the repatriation of the corpse is a complex process. It becomes complicated depending on whether the body is still in a cold room or if it has already been buried and needs to be exhumed, which depends on a judge. But it also becomes complicated depending on the country of origin, especially due to its cost. For example, repatriations to countries like Algeria, which covers part of the process, are more "agile," assures Maleno. Repatriations to Morocco, on the other hand, are a challenge, and many families do not have the financial capacity to cover them. "It reassures us to know that in the Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, for example, people are buried following the entire Muslim religious procedure. This humanizes [the victims], and when families know that the undertakers in Ceuta carry out this entire process, it is a way to alleviate their pain." The activist does not hesitate to denounce that the Ceuta migratory crisis is a "turning point".