E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.2 page 14 nothing about her situation. The Special Rapporteur came across very similar situations in the Algeciras detention centre. She was informed in Melilla that formerly lawyers would charge for each case, with a tendency to deal with many migrants at the same time, and that now when a migrant’s case was taken up, he was assigned a different lawyer from the one who would later handle the case. The immigrants explained that they had no interpreters and that they signed documents in their files without knowing what they were. In the Barranco Seco centre in Las Palmas, a number of migrants said that they were given three minutes a week in which to speak with a lawyer and were unaware of the status of their cases; and some women who had been arrested in a singles club were totally unaware of the procedure for regularizing their migration status. D. Temporary Holding Centres 49. The Special Rapporteur visited the Temporary Holding Centres for Immigrants (CETIs) in Ceuta and Melilla. Although some migrants remain in these centres indefinitely, the aim of the centres is to provide food, lodging, medical assistance, etc. to persons arriving in Spain illegally. 50. In Ceuta, representatives of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) and the local authorities stated that before the Special Rapporteur’s arrival there had been a large number of illegal migrants who could not be accommodated in the CETI and were living in the street. In cooperation with the White Cross, MSF began to provide medical assistance and food for these immigrants, and subsequently set up a camp around the centre. One day before the Special Rapporteur’s arrival the camp was dismantled and some immigrants entered the CETI while others were transferred to the CIE. The CETI has a capacity of 448 and at the time of the visit it contained over 600 people. The authorities stated that the CETI’s situation was aggravated by the fact that some NGOs allegedly encouraged the immigrants outside the centre to apply for asylum. The Special Rapporteur was informed that, of the 300 applications received, only 30 were approved for further action. Nevertheless, this situation made it difficult to resolve cases speedily. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the structural problem relating to the fact that non-expelled migrants remain in a legal limbo which prevents them from regularizing their situation and becoming integrated and subjects them to various kinds of pressure. 51. In Melilla, the Special Rapporteur interviewed a group of Mali citizens who had been living in the CETI for many months and expressed their frustration at not knowing how their cases would be resolved and their reluctance to participate in the CETI’s education activities without knowing whether they would have the possibility of remaining in Spain. E. Unaccompanied minors 52. The Special Rapporteur observed that there is an indeterminate number of unaccompanied minors, of whom some are accommodated in reception centres while others remain in the streets. Most come from Morocco and are between the ages of 15 and 18, although more and more younger ones are arriving from other places, such as sub-Saharan countries or eastern Europe. According to the 2002 report of the Directorate-General for Immigration, there was a total of 6,329 unaccompanied minors. 53. She was informed that when the State security forces and bodies find an undocumented unaccompanied minor, the public prosecutor places him at the disposal of the competent juvenile protection services of the Autonomous Communities and Cities. After interviewing him and receiving a report from the juvenile protection services, the State authorities decide to send him to