In Ceuta, hundreds of migrants have taken to the streets to protest and are refusing to return to Morocco
Hundreds of migrants who recently arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta took to the streets on Sunday, August 17, to protest. They called on Spanish authorities to grant them asylum instead of returning them to Morocco.
Due to a lack of resources in Ceuta, most of the new arrivals are forced to live in difficult conditions on El Trampolín Beach or on the outskirts of the city.
The migrants are hoping to travel to mainland Europe, but currently have no way of doing so.
“We sleep by the sea; we’re cold, and there are unpleasant odors all around us. We’re suffering greatly,” said Ayub Elaroud from Tetouan, Morocco.
According to him, the police are not allowing migrants to reach the center of Ceuta.
During the protest, demonstrators held Spanish flags and signs reading:
- “We don’t want to go back to Morocco”;
- “We are human beings too.”
The migrants also chanted “We’re tired” and “We need a solution.”
In this way, they called on the Spanish authorities to allow them to remain in the country and to review their asylum applications.
Earlier, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska stated that migrants who entered the country illegally would not be allowed to remain in Ceuta.
According to him, they will also not be able to travel to mainland Spain or obtain legal status, except in specific cases involving “extreme vulnerability.”
The situation in Ceuta remains part of a broader migration issue in Spain’s territories in North Africa, which regularly serve as a destination for people trying to reach the EU.
This was reported by Reuters.
Thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain in the Spanish city of Ceuta in North Africa following a mass border crossing from Morocco on July 30. According to NPR World, more than 140 people died during this crossing. The Spanish government reported that during the week beginning July 27, more than 70,000 migrants crossed the border into Ceuta.
Moroccan police detained at least 111 people who attempted to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta illegally on Saturday.
