The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, signed an order this Saturday to take control of the port of Ceuta and authorize the installation of temporary reception tents for migrants in the Poniente dock area.
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The measure, adopted under article 73.3 of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law, will allow the use of a surface of 16,000 square meters of public port domain to install tents with capacity for more than 1,000 immigrants.
The request to occupy these lands aims to temporarily enable the necessary spaces so that the General Directorate of Humanitarian Assistance and the International Protection Reception System can carry out the functions legally assigned to it, according to the order signed by Puente.
The occupation includes the provisional installation of tents and other spaces intended for rest, infirmary, and dispensary areas, as well as areas for social care and intervention and health services. Offices will also be enabled for the staff of the entity responsible for providing the service and a booth intended for security tasks.
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The decision responds to the “exceptionality of the situation in Ceuta”, and, faced with this scenario, the Ministry of Transport has taken command and decided to attend to the request made by the State Secretariat for Migration, authorizing the use of part of the port service area that is already open to the city.
The Government’s decision comes one day after the Board of Directors of the Ceuta Port Authority, controlled by the autonomous city itself, rejected the installation of these structures to accommodate migrants.
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