Chilling videos of thousands of people running amok in joy as they entered Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta went viral. Within hours on Thursday, thousands of jubilant people from Morocco swam and entered Ceuta. Ceuta’s president Juan Jesús Vivas, has urged the Spanish government to declare a national emergency and take control of managing the crisis in the autonomous city. In the wake of the situation that grabbed international headlines at a time when illegal migrant is a contentious issue, Spain and Morocco reached an agreement for an urgent return of these migrants.
Who are these people? Why did they enter Spain’s Ceuta all of a sudden?
- Thousands of migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, swimming or using inflatable devices to reach Tarajal beach and overwhelming Civil Guard officers.
- Ceuta president said 300 sea arrivals per day has become an average in recent days.
- Morocco’s embassy in Madrid blamed criminal organizations involved in human trafficking and illegal smuggling of migrants. They clarified that the authorities do not condone these movements.
- Though Spain and Morocco agreed to return these people, no timeline was set.
- Spain’s national broadcaster, TVE, reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had crossed into Ceuta, while the state news agency, Efe, said some had entered the territory by scaling the high border fence.
“The situation is absolute chaos,” said Rachid Sbihi, the head of the association that represents Guardia Civil officers in Ceuta. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.” He added that the border had “totally collapsed”.Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, said his government would provide “an immediate response” to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days. “We’re mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible,” he said in a post on X. “I just conveyed this to President Vivas. This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation.”
