Spanish officials said Saturday that most of the tens of thousands of migrants who streamed into its north African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in recent days have now left.
But the episode has been seized upon by right-wing politicians as showing a weakness in EU border management, and raised questions about why Morocco allowed so many migrants to head to Ceuta’s border.
How many migrants?
Ceuta’s population is just 84,000, but between Wednesday and Friday an estimated 60,000 migrants entered the territory, Ceuta’s top official Juan Jesus Vivas said. The Spanish interior ministry put the figure at 50,000.
By late morning Saturday however, “almost all” had left and the situation in the territory had practically returned to normal, said Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
But at least 67 people had died trying to reach Ceuta, he added.
The scale of the influx was far bigger than the last such event in May 2021. Vivas said at the time that around 12,000 crossed the border from Morocco into Ceuta over two days.
What is Morocco doing?
Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist who specialises in migration in North Africa, said it appeared Moroccan security forces had been “sitting on their hands” since Wednesday.
“To reach the breakwater that marks the border between Ceuta and Morocco, there are cordons of police and auxiliary forces, and it’s obvious they’ve been allowed through,” he said.
Carlos Echeverria, director of the Ceuta and Melilla Observatory, said the use of the controversial term “invasion” could be justified, given that “thousands of people are illegally crossing an international border, putting pressure on a neighbouring country”.
On Saturday, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) called for an independent inquiry to “shed full light” on the causes of the influx.Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express TribuneAFPRead More