Morocco agreed to block the passage of migrants to Ceuta, but with a harsh message: “Spain knew the price to pay for underestimating us”

Moroccan police sealed the Tarajal border crossing on Wednesday and halted the migratory exodus which has allowed 8,000 undocumented migrants over the past two days to enter the Spanish city of Ceuta.

The Moroccan government is silent, as it has been doing for the past two days, and has not hinted at what happened.

The hundreds of people who throughout Tuesday concentrated in front of the Tarajal pass, taking advantage of any police distraction or any opportunity to cross the border, today they are taking the opposite path, towards the south, after having convinced themselves that the accesses are closed.

The last breakwater that separates Ceuta and Castillejos (through which thousands of people have entered in recent days) is empty, as migrants return. Moroccan riot forces did not allow anyone to approach the pier despite occasional attempts by groups of people to advance.

According to testimonies collected from candidates for immigration who spent the night there, the Moroccan authorities did not allow them to climb the hill to try to enter the part closest to the district of El Príncipe.

So far, Morocco has accepted the return of 4,800 people, about half of those who entered between Sunday and Tuesday. Of these, around 1,500 unaccompanied minors are provisionally accommodated in Ceuta.

The Minister of State for Human Rights and Relations with Parliament, Mustafá Ramid, assured that Spain “knows that the price to pay for underestimating Morocco is very high”, referring to the fact that the country did not respect the “good neighborliness” by “welcoming” To the secretary general of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali.

“The reception by Spain of the leader of the separatist militias of the Polisario, under a false identity, without taking into account the good neighborly relations which require coordination and consultation, or at least taking care to inform Morocco, is an act irresponsible and totally unacceptable, ”Ramid wrote on his Facebook profile.

The arrival in Spain of this leader could be the trigger for the massive arrival of migrants in the city of Ceuta, since the Moroccan government had warned a week ago that the reception of Ghali in Spain for humanitarian reasons could have consequences.

“What was Spain expecting from Morocco when it welcomed the leader of a gang that took up arms against him?”asked the Moroccan minister, to also ask “what Spain would have lost if it had consulted Morocco on the reception of this individual” and “why Spain did not announce the presence on its soil of the ‘individual in question with his true identity “.

He also indicated that the fact of not having informed the Moroccan government of the arrival of Ghali could be “a proof of his conscience (of Spain) that the act committed is contrary to the relations of good neighbor”. “What if it was Morocco that had committed this act?”

Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Minister Arancha González Laya defended Spain’s “commitment” to Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali, to whom “humanitarian aid” is being provided while defending the government never understood how an “assault” their reception.

Laya insisted that Spain has provided explanations for Ghali’s presence in the country “on several occasions and through multiple channels”. “Spain has a humanitarian tradition and must be able to exercise its humanitarian mission, with respect for its neighbors, without ever seeking aggression against anyone,” he added.

Thus, and after having recognized that this question is “of enormous sensitivity” for Morocco, the Minister of Foreign Affairs underlined Spain’s caution with regard to Western Sahara. The only Spanish “commitment” to the leader of the Polisario, he repeated, is to provide him with “humanitarian aid”. “No more, no less,” he concluded.

Ramid regretted that Spain “preferred” its “relationship with the Polisario and its mentor, Algeria” to its relationship with Morocco which, as the minister said, “has sacrificed a lot in the name of the good. neighborhood ”, which“ should receive special attention from the two neighbors.

According to Ramid, Morocco is therefore “fully entitled” to let Spain know “the extent of its suffering in the name of this good neighbor” and that it will not accept “any underestimation”, so that he “reviews his policy and his relations with his neighbor and respect his rights as you respect yours.

The head of Spanish diplomacy stressed that if Ghali has “unresolved problems with the Spanish justice system, he should appear like any other citizen”. All this, yes, once he leaves the Logroño hospital where he is admitted.

In this sense, the minister clarified that Spain was not going to “fuel” the controversy and recalled that the executive has always been “very clear” that it was necessary to “reorientate this situation”. “I insist, it is and it was a humanitarian gesture towards a seriously ill person”, he justified himself, explaining that the government never gave him “a character of aggression”.

Laya stressed that Spain does not intend to plunge into a diplomatic crisis, but stressed that it would be “firm” in the defense of “the border, security and order”.

(with information from EFE and EP)

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