As hundreds of unaccompanied minor Moroccan children remain stranded in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta after a recent massive illegal border crossing, the children's families, particularly parents, are appealing for their swift return from Ceuta.
Many parents say their children left without their consent and should be home continuing their education and daily lives. Some families believe that opportunities exist in Morocco for those willing to study and work, and they are now appealing to the government to help secure their children's return.
Moroccan authorities said reuniting the minors with their families is a priority, urging Spain to speed up the process as legal and administrative hurdles continue to delay their return.
"Morocco's Interior Ministry is calling on the Spanish authorities, within the framework of existing coordination and cooperation between the two countries, to assume their responsibilities and accelerate procedures for returning unaccompanied minors currently in Ceuta to their families in Morocco, while safeguarding their best interests," said Rachid el Khalfi, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of Morocco.
Ceuta, sitting just across a border fence from Morocco, is one of Spain's two enclaves on the North African coast, alongside Melilla. Although geographically located in Africa, it forms part of the EU's external border.
Between late July and early August, a massive wave of undocumented migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, triggering Spain's most severe border crisis in recent years.
Spain on Monday revised upward the estimated number of undocumented migrants who entered Ceuta from Morocco from 72,000 to 80,000.
Spain's Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said that the vast majority of the migrants were repatriated or returned to Morocco within 24 to 48 hours. However, at least 83 people died during the mass border crossing, according to the latest figures from Spanish authorities.
Moroccan families seek return of minors from Ceuta
Serbia-China cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has significantly improved regional connectivity for the landlocked central European country and boosted its development over the past decade, a leading Serbian expert on the BRI said Monday.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
Bojan Lalic, director of the Belt and Road Institute in Belgrade, commented on the transformative impact of China-Serbia BRI cooperation in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the day that marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi's major speech delivered at a symposium on BRI in Beijing.
Lalic said Serbia stands as a prime example of the BRI's global reach, highlighting the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway, a flagship BRI infrastructure project jointly built by China, Serbia, and Hungary, among others.
"We used to say that Serbia is the best showcase of the Belt and Road Initiative in the world because most of the activities that were mentioned in the Belt and Road Initiative in the first decade were deployed in Serbia, like, we developed the high-speed railway from Belgrade to Budapest. We constructed highways, we constructed tunnels, several bridges. We reconstructed our terminals at our post office because of e-commerce. So, that's why I think the Belt and Road Initiative as the framework for development left a very, very big mark on Serbia's development (over the) last decade," he said.
Considered a key corridor for regional connectivity, the 350-km Belgrade-Budapest rail link is designed to run at 200 km per hour on the Serbian side and 160 km per hour on the Hungarian side. It will slash travel time between the two capitals from eight hours to about three once entering full operations.
Looking beyond major infrastructure projects, Lalic pointed to strengthening business cooperation that are bringing tangible benefits to both China and Serbia, citing examples where his institute has played a key role in bringing these partnerships to fruition.
"I will give you two case studies. One case study is we've signed a contract between Belt and Road Institute [in Belgrade] and the Shandong High-Speed Company. Shandong High-Speed Company has 165 gas stations in Shandong Province, so with the one contract we covered 165 places where Serbian products can be sold [in China]. And the second thing is we negotiated an option and now we have Serbian truffles at the Xiamen Airlines on the plane. Again, one contract, hundreds of thousands or millions of passengers using products from Serbia. That's how we are trying to connect the companies between Serbia and China and to bring value to them," he said.
According to the institute director, the next frontier for China-Serbia BRI cooperation is educational and cultural exchange, which both President Xi and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic have agreed in their talks during Vucic's state visit to China in late May.
"I will now speak about the newest initiative we are undertaking because we would like, extremely, to have more our students and more our professors in China. And also, we would like to have more professors and students from China to visit Serbia. Because we really think that when you want to do a research about Belt and Road, you must come to the field, to the place where Belt and Road is actually happening. So this is something that is most important to connect people," he said.
BRI cooperation with China has left 'big mark' on Serbia's development: expert
