Migrants who broke through from Morocco to Spain headed back

Spanish authorities are calling the massive influx of migrants into the Ceuta enclave an attack. Within 24 hours, about fifty thousand people broke through from Morocco to Cape Ceuta by sea. Spanish authorities emphasize that by Friday evening, most of the migrants had left Ceuta and returned to Morocco, writes the BBC.

The Spanish Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that since Thursday evening, about 50,000 people, mostly young men, had broken into Ceuta by sea. The authorities of Ceuta itself estimated the number of foreigners at 60,000. The Spanish population of the city-enclave, which occupies an area of 18 square kilometers, is about 80,000.

About 37.5 thousand foreigners returned by Friday. In the crush while trying to get ashore over the wall, which is reinforced with border fencing, at least 57 migrants died, their bodies recovered from the water.

From the Moroccan side, assault police units have been drawn to the border, which is already well reinforced with steel fences and barbed wire. They are repelling the crowd with tear gas and water cannons. Near the border, the remains of several burned cars and a bus are visible.

Павялічыць

Migrants are returning across the border and through holes in the fence into Moroccan territory.

"To tell the truth, I don't know why I came here, I'm leaving," said a young man who stated he was from Tangier, Morocco, to reporters. "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday, even though I brought money with me. There was nothing good or fun for us here."

"I beg you, please, don't come here, don't do this. People are dying here," he appealed to other residents of Morocco through journalists.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Ceuta. Local residents met him with loud shouts of protest and insults.

He stated that the mass breakthrough of foreigners into the enclave is a violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty and said that the expulsion of those who entered Ceuta illegally would be swift, with Morocco cooperating with the enclave authorities in this regard.

Mass breaches of the border from Morocco have occurred before, and in recent years they have been organized during the summer months on social networks.

The largest occurred in 2021, when due to disagreements with Madrid regarding the status of Western Sahara (Morocco considers it its territory, Spain advocates for limited autonomy of these lands), Moroccan authorities allowed 8,000 people into Ceuta.

UN data shows that this year 2,862 people entered Ceuta, and 181 entered Melilla.

It is believed that the reason for this – the largest incident of its kind – was a decision by the Spanish Supreme Court in July, which ruled that enclave authorities could not automatically return to Morocco those who entered Ceuta and Melilla (another Spanish enclave on the African coast) by sea.

However, authorities claim that the court's decision does not currently hinder the expulsion of foreigners.

Usually, to bypass border fences and Moroccan border guards themselves, illegal migrants have to come from distant places. It is unknown why this time they were able to get so close to the fence from the Moroccan side, and why the Moroccan border service did not prevent them from doing so and did not disperse the gathered crowds of people.

"France Presse" correspondents interviewed people gathered in Moroccan Fnideq near the Ceuta border. They learned that the crowd was drawn there by rumors that the border with Ceuta had allegedly opened. "I was in Tangier, working," one woman from Fnideq told agency journalists. "I woke up in the morning and heard that Ceuta had opened. Then I told everyone that I would try to find work there, whatever happens, happens."

Spanish national Carmen González Bermúdez, who came to Ceuta to visit her parents, said she was impressed by the events. According to her, she saw "thousands and thousands of people, wet, coming out of the sea."

"I understand that most of them are normal people, just trying to get a better future for themselves. But we cannot give it to them," the BBC interlocutor said.

Among those who realized the danger of attempting to cross the border was a man named Abdelhakim. According to him, he walked 14 kilometers "through the mountains" to reach Fnideq.

"When we arrived, they told us we had to bypass the barrier by sea. A wave engulfed me, and I saw two men in front of me simply drown," he told "France Presse" in an interview. "Then I remembered that I have two children, and it's not worth such a risk."

Spanish police stated that there were not enough officers in Ceuta to monitor the perimeter of the barrier and its security.

Prime Minister Sánchez stated that criminal groups had exploited the Spanish Supreme Court's decision by spreading rumors. These rumors, according to Sánchez, "spread like wildfire."

The Prime Minister promised that the government would consider strengthening the border with Morocco.

When Italy announced it would consider suspending the Schengen agreement regime with Spain, authorities in Madrid reacted sharply: the Italian ambassador was summoned to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that such statements were not appropriate for "a partner country, a friendly state from which we expect European solidarity, not political demagoguery."

However, Italy's position was supported by the Finnish Foreign Minister, who stated that Spain had failed to protect its borders.

The US President also used the incident in Ceuta for new statements on migration. "You know, I saw yesterday what's happening in Spain, and I looked at the catastrophe. It looks like an invasion of hundreds of thousands of people. And the same thing will happen to us if the Republicans are not elected (in the midterm elections in November). Only worse," stated Donald Trump.

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