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Reuters

At least 34 people died trying to cross from Morocco into Spain’s Ceuta enclave during a massive surge this week in illegal migration, local regional president Juan Jesús Vivas told reporters on Friday.
Vivas said around 60,000 people had crossed into Ceuta during the influx, many by swimming around a border barrier stretching into the water.
He did not give details on how the victims died.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta on Friday and said his country had suffered a “violation”.
“What has happened has been an attack, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,” Sánchez told reporters.
He pledged Spain’s full support to Ceuta’s nearly 85,000 residents.

He blamed human smugglers for the crisis, saying they “deceive so many young people, and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths, whether in the ocean or, as in this case, at Spain’s border in the autonomous city of Ceuta”.
He added that Spain would start sending migrants back and that the government of Morocco said it will assist in that effort.
Spain and Morocco both reinforced the border fence of the Spanish enclave on Friday and appeared to have halted mass crossings, with around 49,000 people arriving by sea and land in a single day.
At least 19 dead bodies were found in the water.


The mass crossing into Ceuta, a Spanish-held spit jutting into the Mediterranean from Morocco, caused division in Europe, with Italy threatening to suspend ‌the EU’s internal open border scheme.
At the gates into Ceuta, Moroccan authorities had deployed water cannon trucks and pushed people back. The charred remains of a bus and seven cars could be seen nearby, from clashes with the crowds.
Spanish authorities said they would try to expel those who had entered illegally as quickly as possible, despite a court ruling that has put some new restrictions on special “border rejection” rules that allow immediate expulsions.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern Morocco, have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. The two cities are each home to around 85,000 people.
Both cities periodically experience surges ⁠in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but nearly 50,000 crossing in a single day appears to be unprecedented.
Spain described it as the biggest crisis since at least 2021.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for swift deportations under EU law.
“The images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable,” she wrote on Friday on X.
“We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules. Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled,” she said.
Territorial Policy ‌Minister Angel Victor Torres said on Friday that among factors contributing to the surge may have been a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court this month that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned under special rules.
Torres told a local radio station the Spanish government had reacted immediately to the surge and would proceed to eventually return the migrants, while ⁠respecting court rulings and migrants’ rights.
On the Moroccan ⁠side of the border, thousands of migrants streamed into the town of Fnideq overnight despite a reinforced deployment of security that foiled most attempts to cross.
Although the crossing appeared blocked, groups moved along the coast seeking routes around the fence. ‌Some prepared to swim.
“I was late,” said Brahim, 32, who gave only one name. He said he had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate but found it effectively shut.
Migratory policies require a deep revision that addresses the reality of the border and guarantees the respect of the dignity and human rights of ⁠migrants and refugees
Joint statement from local migrant groups
Among those hoping to cross were women and children, from ‌both Morocco ‌and sub-Saharan African countries further south.
In a post on X, Spain’s Guardia Civil police association AUGC said there had been too few police in place to monitor the fence during the ‌surge on Thursday, making them unable to stop it.
“Migratory policies require a deep revision that addresses the reality of the south border and guarantees the respect of the dignity and human rights of ⁠the migrants and refugees who arrive to Ceuta,” said a joint statement by several local migrant groups, saying resources in Ceuta were insufficient.
Ceuta, which is perched on a historical isthmus, has been a Spanish possession since 1580.

Its mixed population of Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers, lives in relative harmony behind a border fence that many desperate migrants from across Africa attempt to cross for a better life in Europe.
Migration is a sensitive issue across Europe, where right-wing parties have ⁠surged in the decade since a 2015 crisis when more than a million people crossed the continent mainly on foot and sought asylum, most fleeing war in Syria.
Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country was prepared “to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area ‌with Spain,” referring to the EU’s internal border-free zone.
While ‌Spain’s Socialist government says it remains firm over illegal crossings, it says immigrants help strengthen the economy and has offered a mass amnesty that saw hundreds of thousands of people seek citizenship over the past year.
“The images coming from Ceuta show how the Madrid Government’s decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to over 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking,” Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares replied that Tajani’s message was “inappropriate”, and said Spain expected “solidarity and not partisan demagoguery” from its partner. He added he would summon the Italian ambassador to protest.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, dpa


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Migrants cross from Morocco into Ceuta on Thursday. Photo: AP

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Spanish PM says his nation suffered a ‘violation of its territorial integrity’, blames human smugglers who ‘deceive so many young people’


Spanish PM says his nation suffered a ‘violation of its territorial integrity’, blames human smugglers who ‘deceive so many young people’.


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Spain, Morocco move to halt fatal rush on Ceuta after 60,000 illegal migrants cross

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Spanish PM says his nation suffered a ‘violation of its territorial integrity’, blames human smugglers who ‘deceive so many young people’

Spanish PM says his nation suffered a ‘violation of its territorial integrity’, blames human smugglers who ‘deceive so many young people’