Mr. José Maria Aznar
Prime Minister of Spain
Complejo de la Moncloa
C.P. 28071 Madrid
Spain

Fax + 34 91 335 3535, +34 91 390 0751

I am writing to express my concern about abuses of children in Ceuta 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 children who were beaten or ill-treated by Spanish police, abused by staff and other children in residential centers, subjected to arbitrary age determination procedures, denied health, education, and other benefits guaranteed them in Spanish law, or summarily expelled to Morocco.

I urge you to ensure that all unaccompanied migrant children present in Spain receive without discrimination the protection and care they are entitled to under international law and European law. The Spanish government should sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families and the European Convention on the Repatriation of Minors, and reaffirm its invitation to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants to visit Spain. Finally, I call upon you to publicly support the creation of an ombudsman for children to protect and promote the rights of children in Spain.

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

Sincerely,