At least five girls under 14 have been raped since arriving in Ceuta

At least five migrant girls under the age of 14 have allegedly been raped since arriving in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The victims sought treatment at the University Hospital of Ceuta (HUCE) this past week, health services told the El Pueblo de Ceuta newspaper.Approximately 72,000 migrants swam or stormed the border into Ceuta from Moroccan territory at the end of July, in the latest migration crisis to shake Europe.Up to 100 people died during the mass influx which occurred over 48 hours, with Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas declaring a 'humanitarian emergency' as the enclave became overwhelmed with new arrivals.Judicial sources said many of the alleged rapes were prevented by the direct intervention of residents of Ceuta.Some residents of the autonomous city were also among the accused, however.The Ceuta Prosecutor's Office previously said it was aware of two of the cases of alleged sexual assault and had opened preliminary proceedings.It confirmed that no arrests had yet been made.

At least five migrant girls under the age of 14 have allegedly been raped since arriving in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta Migrants gather along the fence close to the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border, on July 31 People walk on a beach as they attempt to cross from the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on July 31The legal procedures required for these allegations to result in convictions include medical reports, victim testimony, security camera footage, eyewitness statements and police reports. Judicial sources said they had been made aware of 'many cases' of attempted sexual assault, and that the figures will be higher as the days go by. Authorities have confirmed that two educational centres in the city will be repurposed as shelters for unaccompanied minors.The first one to be opened is the CEIP Reina Sofía, in the Príncipe Alfonso neighbourhood, which was housing more than 110 girls and teenagers and operating as an exclusively female shelter.Neighbourhood associations are using the La Reina football field, in the Sidi Embarek neighbourhood, as a night shelter so that women can sleep safely.The CEIP Príncipe Felipe will act as another shelter for minors, although this educational centre will also be used to house young men.The city is working on preparing two other spaces, one in the port area and another in Loma Margarita, where all children will be transferred from educational centres to ensure that the school year in September can begin as planned.Spain's Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego said Friday that 1,342 unaccompanied migrant minors had been registered in Ceuta following the mass influx from Morocco.Aid groups have warned that the minors, many of whom are sleeping rough on the streets of Ceuta, are at risk of abuse and exploitation.On Tuesday, Spain's foreign minister vowed to send ‘every last person’ who stormed the enclave back to Morocco.José Manuel Albares said Madrid would be toeing a hardline by enforcing ‘the return of all those who have entered’ illegally.He stressed that storming the border into EU territory ‘does not grant anyone the right to remain’ during a visit to the enclave, which borders Morocco in North Africa but is Spanish and EU soil.The rush on the border triggered European leaders to call for Spain's temporary suspension from the bloc's Schengen free-travel zone, sparking a furious response from Madrid. Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska later said 70,000 of the estimated 72,000 that crossed in Ceuta had returned to Morocco.Albares warned migrants ‘not risk their lives, their money or their futures by an endeavour that is doomed to fail'.Any migrants crossing illegally won't be able to reach mainland Europe or stay in Ceuta, he said, warning that ‘every last person’ will be returned.Prime Minister Andy Burnham has dismissed Reform UK’s policy of sending the Royal Navy in to rescue and return small boats to the French or Belgian coast.More than 3,000 migrants arrived in his first 22 days as prime minister – hundreds more than Sir Keir Starmer’s first three weeks in office.It comes amid a much tougher line being toed among EU nations against illegal crossings into the continent.They are keen to deter a repeat of the scenes in Ceuta and avoid another migration crisis like the one which engulfed the bloc in 2015. Armed services restrain a migrant after arriving on Tarajal beach after crossing the border between Spain and Morocco, July 31 Spanish security forces take measures as migrants arrive on the shore of the Spanish city of Ceuta in North Africa after attempting to swim from Morocco on July 31 Italy has suspended the European Union's border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain since August 1, and said it would maintain border controls until at least August 15.Rome said the measure would not affect Spanish or other EU citizens travelling to Italy and would instead involve targeted checks on non-EU nationals arriving from Spain by air or sea.'We hope to be able to lift the suspension soon, as soon as there is no longer any risk,' foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday.The Schengen Area allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries, although member states can temporarily reintroduce border controls on security or public-order grounds.Madrid responded by checking around 200 travellers arriving from Italy at the country's six largest airports on Saturday, amid the escalating row.Spain's Interior Ministry carried out checks on a total of 199 people on 12 flights from ​Italy to airports in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Alicante ​and Valencia.Spanish police said Tuesday they have dismantled a criminal ring accused of recruiting unaccompanied migrant girls from care centres in Gran Canaria and moving them to mainland Spain and France, where some were sexually exploited.The Guardia Civil said the investigation began after a migrant girl who had been under the care of authorities in Gran Canaria returned to Spain from France and told investigators she had been recruited with the promise of a job.Investigators subsequently identified several similar cases involving girls who left care centres without their personal documents and were later linked to flights to mainland Spain, the Guardia Civil said in a statement.The network allegedly exploited the girls' vulnerability, offering to help them leave the Canary Islands while providing false identity or travel documents and arranging their journeys by air and land.'All with the aim of facilitating their departure from the islands and subsequently transferring them to mainland Spain and France, where some of them are alleged to have been subjected to sexual exploitation,' the statement said.The Guardia Civil said it rescued two victims and prevented four other minors from leaving the islands.Five people were arrested, including one minor, following five searches across Gran Canaria.