Morocco arrests 111 migrants headed for Spain’s Ceuta enclave in security crackdown

CEUTA, Spain - Moroccan police arrested at least 111 people on Aug 15 as they tried to enter Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides of the border after social media posts called for another mass migrant crossing.

The attempted crossing came two weeks after more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta, sparking tensions within the European Union and fuelling anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide. At least 96 people died in the attempt to reach European soil.

A source in Morocco’s Interior Ministry told Reuters those detained included 109 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and two Moroccan citizens arrested in or around Fnideq, the Moroccan city opposite Ceuta.

According to Spanish news agency EFE, Moroccan police used tear gas to disperse groups of migrants gathered on hills about 3km from the border.

Reuters later saw hundreds of police officers, some in riot gear and others in plain clothes, returning from the hills outside Fnideq.

Moroccan security personnel searching a hillside in Fnideq, Morocco, on Aug 15, in an effort to locate migrants potentially attempting to cross irregularly into the north African Spanish enclave of Ceuta. PHOTO: REUTERS

EFE and Spanish state broadcaster TVE said Morocco’s Interior Ministry ordered their journalists to leave Fnideq immediately, without providing an explanation.

In Ceuta, Spanish soldiers guarded supermarkets while police heavily patrolled the enclave’s main streets. The city was calmer than in the days after the deadly crossing attempt on July 30.

Madrid has since installed a maritime barrier and deployed more than 500 additional police from mainland Spain, raising the total in Ceuta to more than 1,600. The Interior Ministry said the reinforcements would remain for as long as needed.

“We’ll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of July 30 from happening again,” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Aug 13.

Moroccan security forces arresting migrants trying to enter the north African Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Aug 15. PHOTO: EPA

About 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta, the minister said. Reuters saw hundreds sheltering from scorching heat under makeshift bamboo shelters on the urban beach of El Trampolin.

Grande-Marlaska said migrants who entered irregularly would not be allowed to stay in the enclave, travel to mainland Spain or obtain legal status, except in rare cases involving extreme vulnerability. Those without a right to remain would be returned to Morocco, he said.

Morocco steps up checks

Earlier this week, Rabat said it was monitoring “the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin” calling for a mass crossing on Aug 15, warning it would prosecute organisers and participants.

A Reuters witness saw reinforced security near the border, including police vans with wire shields and road checkpoints. Local media reported similar measures near Spain’s other North African enclave, Melilla.

Authorities prevented several groups from boarding trains and buses to northern Morocco in cities such as Casablanca, Fez and Kenitra. However, witnesses told Reuters that some migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were bypassing security checkpoints by taking mountain routes towards Fnideq.

One witness said the schools in Fnideq had been turned into accommodation for security forces deployed near the border.

‘My advice: Don’t cross’

Many of the young people who entered Ceuta on July 30 were fishing, swimming or washing at Tarajal beach on Aug 14.

Driss Sadik, a 22-year-old from Fez who said he swam for five hours to reach Ceuta, urged others not to follow his example.

“The important thing I would advise people trying to cross: Don’t cross now, my brothers. You’re only going to suffer,” he told Reuters.

The warning was echoed by Adil Jamil, 17.

“Those who enter aren’t going to benefit from anything. There will just be more and more of us, and they won’t find a solution for all,” he said.

Jamil said that the mass border crossings were “planned by the people” who pick a date, gather in Fnideq and cross together to find strength in numbers.

“If I had stayed with my parents, I would’ve died slowly. But if I risk my life, arrive and build my future... it will be better,” he said. REUTERS