Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has accused Spain of hindering the return of migrants stranded in the North African enclave of Ceuta.
“If illegal migrants have not been returned, if minors have not been returned, this question should be asked not of Morocco but of Spain. It is not Morocco that is hindering their return,” Bourita told journalists after a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares in New York on Thursday .
This was their first in-person meeting after some 72,000 people crossed illegally into the Spanish enclave from Morocco in July. One of the main topics of the talks was the return of adults and minors stranded in the autonomous city.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Bourita’s accusations, saying that Morocco was ready to cooperate on migrant returns.