A baby in the sea, the image of the migration crisis …

Nail Photo who has traveled the world in recent hours condenses the gravity of the migratory crisis that Ceuta has been going through since Monday: features a Civil Guard diver holding a baby he saved from drowning. The scene is part of a dramatic situation in which thousands of people try to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, amid a diplomatic dispute.

“The baby was frozen, cold, he didn’t move much … it was a bit crazy day”said Juan Francisco, the rescue diver who in the photo – posted this Tuesday on social networks by the Armed Institute – appears next to a rescuer helping the little one, barely two months old. As reported by the rescuer, member of the Special Unit for Underwater Activities in Ceuta, the child he is now safe and in good health.

The task of the divers, Juan Francisco said in radio statements, was to identify the most vulnerable people, those who were not going to be able to swim on their own. In the case of this baby, the man saw how the mother jumped into the water with the child strapped to her skirt and that’s when they came to her aid. “It was a bit traumatic,” he lamented.

“They used toy floats and empty bottles, they jumped into the water so to speak.”, detailed on the sad scene which involves thousands of migrants in Ceuta. “It was not only the children who needed help, but there were also older people who were struggling.”He continued.

When asked about the baby’s mother’s situation, the diver said a partner had come to the aid of the woman, although he could not confirm the end of the rescue.

In the last hours, the rescue of a three-week-old baby was also known, whose mother held him in her arms, caught in the tumult of people. which were next to the border breakwater fence. According to what could be reconstructed, a Red Cross volunteer managed to lead the child through a hole in the fence while the mother waited in a long line to enter.

Crisis in Ceuta

Since this Monday, approximately 8,000 migrants, between them at least 1,500 nines, entered Ceuta, the Spanish enclave of 85,000 inhabitants in North Africa separated from Morocco by a fence. Young man drowned, dozens treated for hypothermia or minor injuries, reported the Ceuta Red Cross, which was testing new arrivals for the coronavirus.

According to the press release released this Tuesday by the Spanish Interior Ministry, half of the migrants have been “returned” by the pact signed three decades ago to expel all those who swim across the border.

The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish enclaves in Africa bathed by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the only European territories on African soil and the only land borders between the two continents. The influx of migrants fueled the diplomatic dispute between Spain and Morocco concerning the region of Western Sahara and this generated a humanitarian crisis in Ceuta.

On Tuesday, the European country deployed soldiers on the border with Morocco and announced that it would send more police to the area. Meanwhile, the Spanish president, Pedro Sanchez, canceled a trip to Paris, flew to Ceuta and called on the “friends” of Morocco to “respect the common border”.

Morocco, for its part, decided on Tuesday to summon its ambassador to Spain for consultations, after the Spanish government expressed “disgust” for “the massive influx of Moroccan migrants to Ceuta”. Finally, Moroccan authorities have closed the road to the Ceuta border post, where they deployed riot police to disperse possible migrants.

The main European Union (EU) migration official, Ylva Johansson, called the incidents “worrying” and called on Morocco to prevent people from leaving in the first place. According to international media, The relaxation of Moroccan border surveillance came after Spain decided to grant entry for medical treatment to the leader of the Polisario Front, a group that fights against Morocco for independence from Western Sahara..

Morocco’s foreign ministry said Madrid’s decision to aid Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali was “incompatible with the spirit of partnership and good neighborliness” and promised there would be “consequences. “. The Spanish government, however, officially rejects the idea that Morocco is punishing Spain for its humanitarian action.