Morocco-Spain: why this sudden and massive arrival of migrants in Ceuta?
Spanish soldiers have just picked up Moroccans on Tarajal beach, in Ceuta, on May 18, 2021. REUTERS - JON NAZCA
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More than 8,000 Moroccans have crossed the border with Europe since Monday to arrive in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in the north of the country.
Spain, which gave these figures on Tuesday, claims to have returned half of them to Morocco and announces the sending of new reinforcements of the police on the spot. This massive arrival of migrants comes against the backdrop of a diplomatic crisis major between the two countries.
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With our special correspondent in Ceuta,
Diane Cambon
Spain has returned nearly half of the 8,000 migrants who entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta illegally in northern Morocco on Monday, setting a record in terms of migratory flow.
More than 2,000 unaccompanied children are still in Ceuta.
These miners roam the streets of the city, under the astonished gaze of the inhabitants.
An unprecedented and impressive situation
Madrid therefore called the reinforcement army in Ceuta on Tuesday to try to prevent these thousands of migrants from entering this territory which for a quarter of a century has been the site of all kinds of illegal entries.
But never before have we seen such massive arrivals.
“
Migrants were constantly arriving, it just kept on going,”
says Isabel Brasero, from the Spanish Red Cross.
Since Monday, the influx has been continuous. It went down a bit on Tuesday morning, they even stopped crossing because the army arrived on the beach. But it did not last, and now they are crossing again, despite the presence of the army and other security forces. This time, there are a lot of children, mothers with their children. In Ceuta, given the geographical location, we are used to massive arrivals of migrants. But usually they cross the fence or arrive by boat. What we have seen since Monday is unprecedented: they walked barely 400 meters, some did not even have to swim, they simply walked. It's really new, in terms of people, but also in the way they arrived.
"
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Arrival of 6,000 migrants in Ceuta: "It's
unheard
of, such an influx all at once"
On the beach, where these migrants swim, the Spanish police, who deployed armored vehicles and used tear gas, have set up a security cordon to prevent them from going further than the shore. , AFP noted.
They then accompany them to the fence that separates Spain from Morocco.
By mid-afternoon, around 700 migrants, mainly Moroccans, but also from sub-Saharan Africa, were surrounded on the beach, according to the same source.
On Tarajal beach, Ceuta's main beach, hundreds of Moroccans walk under the watchful eyes of the Spanish military to the border post.
Equipped with a plastic bag with some food, they return to Morocco after spending less than 24 hours in Ceuta.
A few meters away, a group of six minors aged 11 to 15 refuse to return to Morocco.
Assoulana, who comes from Tetouan, is categorical he wants to stay in Spain.
“
No, Morocco, no, not Morocco!
"
José, a Spaniard, discovered this group of children, starving and scared in a city park.
He warned the Red Cross which should give them accommodation in Ceuta.
The law indeed obliges Spain to take care of unaccompanied minors.
“
I hope they will take care of them.
It is terrible to use children as a bargaining chip.
This is the first time that I see this, we can not believe it.
To see 8000 people walking through the streets all at once is very impressive.
But there is a lot of solidarity too.
In my street, I saw a lot of people giving them bags with water and food.
"
Migrants, mostly Moroccans, try to land on the shores of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Morocco, in order to cross the barbed wire barrier, on May 18, 2021. REUTERS - JON NAZCA
Who are these migrants who have decided to leave their countries at all costs to reach Europe? Mohamed Benaissa is the president of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights (ONDH) in Morocco. “
Most are Moroccans, many are young, around 60%, and 30% are minors and there are around 10% families,” he
says.
Other nationalities are among these 8,000 migrants: some arrive from sub-Saharan Africa, others from Yemen. As for Moroccans, this desire to flee to Europe can be seen above all in the most disadvantaged classes but also in the middle classes. The Covid crisis has accentuated this desire to leave. It worsened the economic and social situation. Moroccan youth feel excluded.
"
A tense diplomatic backdrop
The situation forced
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to go to Ceuta yesterday
.
He came to reassure a worried population by promising to restore order as quickly as possible.
But can this be done without the help of Morocco?
Nothing is less certain, especially since Rabat has so far always been considered an ally of Spain in the fight against illegal immigration.
However, it has been a few weeks since relations between the two countries have experienced a serious cold since the reception by Spain of the leader of the Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, to be treated there for Covid.
And we know that this question of the Sahara is extremely sensitive for Moroccan diplomacy.
Tuesday evening, the two countries clarified their official position Rabat assures Madrid that this influx of migrants is not due to their disagreement and Spain itself refutes the idea of manipulation.
For Omar Rafiwak, founder of the NGO Pro-Migrant who lives in Tetouan, the Spanish government's position on the Western Sahara issue is not the only explanation for this wave of migration, in an area where the authorities have decided to put an end to the smuggling that supported the whole region a year and a half ago.
"
It is the situation in general, the economic situation, which has been worsening for a long time. People protested, but no one listened to them, no one sat down with them to discuss. The only response was to send them the police to silence these protests. It is true that smuggling is bad for the country's economy. But we cannot close the door to contraband without offering the population an alternative. Otherwise people end up being desperate, and we are witnessing everything we see today. For me, it's not much different from the image of those mule-women who crossed the border loaded with contraband packages, and were manhandled by the police, to earn a little money, hardly enough to live on. . But the next daythey were there again, to work as carriers.
"
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