Morocco closed the border with Ceuta after 8,000 migrants entered Spain

Almost two days after the start of the massive influx of some 8,000 migrants into the Spanish peninsula of Ceuta, Moroccan security forces closed the border on Tuesday to contain the mobilization of people trying to illegally reach Spain.

According to the newspaper The country, dozens of agents were deployed in the mountains of Fnideq to block the passage of Moroccan migrants.

The Maghreb country reacted to the migratory wave after several hours of silence and pressure from the Spanish and European authorities.

Ylva johansson, European Commissioner for the Interior, reminded the Moroccan authorities that “the Spanish borders are European borders”. In addition, demanded that Rabat respect your obligations to control irregular departures and to accept the return of people who do not have the right to stay on European territory.

According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, about half of the 8,000 migrants were returned to Morocco.

Moroccan media report that authorities in Tangier have expelled more than 1,300 irregular migrants to towns in the south of the country, mostly sub-Saharan. Police sources reported the arrest of several people seeking to reach Spanish territory. Others were arrested on trains from Rabat and Casablanca.

The digital site The360 indicates that the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has deployed auxiliary forces on the northern beaches, while in the next few hours, other “clandestine emigrants” will be expelled to the south.

Chakib Marwane, a 50-year-old cross-border worker, told El País that the crossing for Ceuta closed again on Tuesday, starting at noon: “There are people who still come to Fnideq because they have not yet discovered that the access is closed. It can no longer be done, it’s over ”.

At the road access to the border with the Spanish peninsula, there is a metal fence protected by Moroccan police. However, according to a young Moroccan, “this fence yesterday [este lunes] I was not “. And I add: “You could go to the pier. And from there it only took ten minutes to swim to Ceuta. The problem is that we had to swim because the Moroccan police officers did not want to let us walk on the ground, they said that we could only go in the water ”.

For its part, after the wave of the last hours, a Moroccan gendarmerie boat patrols the area near Tarajal beach.

Despite the deployment of riot control agents, Morocco has yet to comment on the relaxation of border surveillance and the situation in Ceuta.

Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities in North Africa on the border with Morocco, are the only land borders of the European Union in Africa, to which the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, visited on Tuesday.

The Spanish government mobilized the army and warned Morocco that it would defend the territorial integrity of its borders “by all means”. Spanish authorities have reported the death of one person while trying to reach the country.

The massive arrival of Moroccan immigrants in Ceuta was the most recent and most serious episode of the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco opened by the admission a few weeks ago in a Spanish hospital of the head of the Front Polisario, Brahim Ghali, suffering from coronavirus. .

Faced with this situation, the head of the Spanish executive warned Morocco, during a brief appearance in the press, that it will guarantee the territorial integrity of Spain “with all the necessary means”, and guaranteed the safety of the citizens of Ceuta in the event of an eventuality.

Sánchez pointed out that “human, historical, cultural, economic and strategic ties call on the two countries to cooperate and work together to progress together. This cooperation must be based on respect for mutual borders, which is the basis of the neighborhood of friendly countries ”.

The European Union also expressed its support for Spain on Tuesday, specifying that “the Spanish borders are European borders”, and asked Morocco to respect its commitments and to fight against irregular immigration.

“All our support and solidarity with Spain. The borders of Spain are the borders of the European Union. Cooperation, trust and shared commitments must be the principles of a strong relationship between the EU and Morocco ”, wrote the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on his official Twitter account.

Throughout 2021 there have been swimming entries from Morocco, most recent on April 27, although for 15 years there has been no massive arrival like this Monday in a single day .

With information from El País and EFE

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