Spain, rights groups disagree over rights of child migrants

MADRID (AP) — Spanish officials are seeking to justify their policy of sending unaccompanied child migrants back to Morocco. Their explanations come Tuesday as 28 human rights organizations write to the Spanish prime minister urging him to end the returns immediately. Hundreds of unaccompanied minors were among a surge of 10,000 people who tried to enter Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in May. Last Friday, Spanish authorities began sending them back to Morocco in groups of 15, triggering an outcry from rights groups. The groups say the returns are illegal, but Spanish officials insist no vulnerable children are at risk.