CEUTA, Spain — Against the murmur of prayers, body bags were lowered into graves marked only with numbers. Gravediggers placed the first four victims in cinderblock plots while a small group of locals watched at a cemetery on the tip of North Africa.
In a statement, the NGO asked Morocco’s foreign ministry to ensure that “the bodies are returned to the families so they can be buried with dignity.”
local authorities say that up to 10,000 migrants — including women and children — could still be in the small Spanish city, prolonging a humanitarian crisis as authorities and locals struggle to shelter and attend to them While most of those who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned to Morocco almost immediately. Spain’s national government cites a lower figure of around 5,000 people.
A spokesperson for Ceuta’s city government said last week the paperwork to repatriate the bodies of the deceased was complete, but that Morocco’s government hadn’t accepted it. The graves were marked with numbered stones in case families claim the bodies in the future, he said. Morocco’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to questions from The Associated Press about the burials that started on Friday in Ceuta or suggestions that Morocco is blocking the repatriation of identified migrant bodies. All of those buried on Friday were men, said Said Mohammed, the cemetery’s acting manager.
