- Nearly all of the 60,000 migrants who entered Ceuta have returned to Morocco
- Ceuta is a frequent destination for migrants trying to reach Europe via Spain
- The migrant influx caused fears of unauthorized migration into the European Union
Two days after almost 60,000 migrants entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, almost all the people have returned to their homes. Ceuta has long been a destination for migrants attempting to reach Europe. While the recent surge was unprecedented, there is often a big push to reach the Spanish territory in the summer, usually organised over social media.
The incident led to widespread fears of unauthorised migration into the European Union. The death count has risen to 67.
The surge of unauthorised arrivals came a week after around 1,800 people swam around a breakwater to enter Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco.
Some would-be migrants had earlier taken swimming lessons or taught themselves to swim with the aim of reaching Spanish soil, a Moroccan swimming teacher told Financial Times. People posted wetsuits or flippers for sale on some Facebook groups before the incident. Some shared information in Arabic about sea conditions and screenshots from Google Maps on how to reach Ceuta's rocky Tarajal beach.
The shortest direct swimming route from Morocco to Ceuta is only a few hundred metres, but strong currents and the surge of swimmers led many to swim further and be in the water for hours.
When people managed to reach the enclave's migrant reception centre hoping to find food and a way to get to mainland Spain, they found it closed. Hours later, many returned home.
What Spanish Prime Minister Said
Scenes of pandemonium raged in Ceuta on Thursday and Friday, as border controls broke down. People arrived in dozens by foot, via cars or in larger vehicles that stopped traffic on the Moroccan side of the border.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who visited Ceuta after the migrant influx, has blamed trafficking gangs for the crisis, the BBC reported. Calling the incident a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity", Sanchez said that traffickers took "a self-serving interpretation” of a Supreme Court ruling in June, which "spread like wildfire".
The Spanish Supreme Court had ruled in June that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Melilla or Ceuta could not be returned to Morocco without due process. However, the process is not that easy. Anyone seeking to travel from Ceuta to the Spanish mainland must pass through more border checks.
The incident has led to Italy temporarily suspending the European Union's border-free Schengen arrangement. Spain has condemned the "selfish, polarising and unlawful" reaction of some EU countries to the crisis.
