Mr. Driss Jettou
Minister of Interior
Ministry of Interior
Quartier Administratif
Rabat
Morocco

Dear Minister,

I am writing to express my concern about abuses of children in Ceuta and Melilla described in the Human Rights Watch report, Nowhere to Turn: State Abuses of Unaccompanied Migrant Children by Spain and Morocco. The report documents cases of Moroccan children who were abused in Ceuta and Melilla and then summarily expelled to Morocco, where Moroccan police beat and ill-treated them. Instead of returning children to their families or a social welfare agency, Moroccan police detained even young children for hours—at times with unrelated adults—then released them on unfamiliar streets, sometimes late at night. The report also raises concerns over the treatment of children in detention facilities run by the Ministry of Interior.

I urge you to initiate investigations of police abuse of unaccompanied migrant children and take appropriate legal and disciplinary action against those responsible. The Ministry of Interior should also institute mandatory training of members of the Moroccan police forces, including those forces responsible for guarding borders, on the special needs and rights of unaccompanied migrant children. Finally, I call on you to ensure that all ministry-run juvenile detention facilities meet at least the standards set forth in the U.N. Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. Detention of children should only be used as a measure of last resort, and the Ministry should work with specialized nongovernmental organizations to develop alternatives to detention and programs that facilitate children’s reintegration in society.

I look forward to receiving your reply, and thank you for your attention to this important human rights matter.

Sincerely,