Up to 90 per cent of Moroccan illegal migrants now applying for asylum in Ceuta claim persecution over their sexual orientation, a Spanish police union has warned, raising fresh concerns about possible manipulation of asylum rules following July’s mass invasion of the Spanish enclave.
Raúl Piera, the Unified Police Union’s (SUP) representative in Ceuta, told El Pueblo de Ceuta on Friday, 16 October, that applicants initially cited unemployment, family reunification or hopes of playing football in Spain. Three weeks after the invasion, however, roughly two-thirds began citing homosexuality. The proportion has since risen to an estimated 90 per cent, he said.
‘At first, they were not informed and did not know what they should say. But word spread,’ Piera said. He suspects that applicants are receiving advice to change their accounts after learning that economic motives are not necessarily sufficient to secure asylum. An investigation by ABC earlier put the proportion citing sexual orientation at around 70 per cent. Police sources cited by ABC also suspect that NGOs may be advising applicants on which grounds offer better chances of obtaining asylum.
Same-sex relations are criminalized in Morocco, making credible persecution claims a potential ground for protection in Spain. The abrupt change nevertheless raises questions over whether the asylum system is being exploited. According to Piera, only five favourable decisions involving such claims had been identified among cases known to the union.
The controversy follows the mass invasion of Ceuta on 30–31 July, when more than 80,000 illegal migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave in North Africa. Around 10,000 remain in the city, leaving local services under pressure more than two months later.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska insisted on Friday that asylum cannot be granted on unsupported declarations alone and that applicants must establish credible grounds for protection. Nearly 1,200 asylum requests have been formalized, with approximately 700 decided; police sources say around 90 per cent of those decisions were rejections.
Marlaska nevertheless declared the first phase of the government’s response completed ‘successfully’, despite thousands of illegal migrants still remaining in Ceuta and police complaints over delayed reinforcements. The declaration adds to scrutiny of the Sánchez government’s handling of the crisis, particularly after the prime minister acknowledged this week that Moroccan warships had breached Spanish waters during the invasion, an incident that remained undisclosed for 74 days.
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