Video: Spain has deployed troops to Ceuta due to a massive influx of migrants – The Guardian
Spain has stepped up security in the North African enclave of Ceuta following a mass border breach by migrants from Morocco. According to local authorities, thousands of people illegally crossed the border by sea and land, causing temporary shelters to become overcrowded. Military units were deployed to the region to stabilize the situation.
On the evening of July 30, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced the deployment of 60 military personnel from the Armed Forces and an additional 30 Civil Guard officers to Ceuta.
“The Armed Forces will support the Civil Guard in carrying out its duties and any other tasks that may be necessary to maintain security in the city of Ceuta,” the Spanish Ministry of the Interior stated.
According to Spanish media reports, between two and three thousand migrants have arrived in the enclave in recent days alone, most of whom swam to the coast from the Moroccan city of Fnideq, covering about five kilometers across the sea. Others climbed over the border fence.
Videos released by local media show crowds of people running along beaches, passing along breakwaters, and crossing the border en masse. Young men make up the majority of the arrivals, though there are also women and children.
Juan Jesús Vivas, president of the autonomous city of Ceuta, stated that the city is experiencing “utter chaos” and called on the central government to declare a state of emergency. According to him, temporary shelters are overcrowded, hundreds of people are forced to sleep outdoors, and facilities for migrant minors are operating at a capacity far exceeding their limits.
Local authorities cite, in particular, a recent decision by the Spanish Supreme Court—which prohibited the immediate return to Morocco of people who reached Ceuta by sea without following the appropriate legal procedures—as the reason for the sharp increase in the flow of migrants. At the same time, human rights activists doubt that this decision alone was the main cause of the current wave of migration.
This is reported by EFE and The Guardian.
Earlier, the Spanish city of Ceuta declared a state of emergency due to the influx of migrants.
As a reminder, on Thursday, July 30, three migrants died while attempting to illegally cross the English Channel in a small boat near the French port of Dunkirk. This was reported by the local administration responsible for the English Channel and North Sea region.
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