Migrants
swim from Morocco to Ceuta as officials say enclave ‘overwhelmed’
Seven
children reach shore as dozens of people intercepted on risky route, which
authorities say is now used more often
Sam Jones
in Madrid
Tue 12
Aug 2025 05.00 BST
About 100
people, including several children, risked their lives by trying to swim from
Morocco into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta early on Saturday morning,
as the territory’s authorities warned that its overwhelmed reception system was
close to collapse.
Recent
weeks have seen a rise in the number of people trying to reach Ceuta, with more
than 50 children swimming across from Morocco on 26 July alone.
In the
latest attempt, on Saturday morning, dozens of people were intercepted as they
attempted to enter the enclave. Seven children reached the shore, where they
were handed over to the regional authorities.
“About
100 people tried to get in, taking advantage of the foggy conditions, which
make it hard to spot people,” said a spokesperson for the Spanish central
government’s delegation in Ceuta. “But they didn’t manage to do so because the
Moroccan security forces and [Spain’s] Guardia Civil, working together with
rescue boats, prevented them from getting to Ceuta.”
However,
he confirmed the arrival of the seven children.
Usually
people need to swim out from the Moroccan coast, into the treacherous currents
of the strait of Gibraltar, to make their way to and around the long border
fences that jut out into the sea, cordoning off the Ceuta enclave from Moroccan
territory.
The
swimming migrants can be easy to pick up when there are just a few – so people
try to go in large numbers in fog or at night-time. Those who are intercepted
are returned to Morocco.
Last
month, Juan Jesús Rivas, the conservative president of the autonomous city,
said Ceuta was “totally overwhelmed” by the number of young migrants it was
hosting, and called for other Spanish regions to take in some of the children.
“We’re a
territory that comprises 20 square kilometres of the 500,000 square kilometres
that make up the whole of Spain, but we take in 3% of the minors,” Rivas told
El País.
“Who
doesn’t get that this is an unsustainable situation? The situation in Ceuta is
one of collapse and that poses a very serious risk when it comes to looking
after minors and to the city as a whole.”
At the
end of July, Alberto Gaitán, the Ceuta government’s spokesman, said the enclave
was hosting 528 foreign minors when it was officially able to hold only 27.
Gaitán pointed out that contingency plans were already in place to send the
children to other Spanish regions.
“Between
2021 and 2024, around 450 minors – to whom we should add another 80 because of
family regrouping in different parts of Spain – were relocated to other
self-governing regions,” he said. “That shows that other regions, whatever
their political hue, are there to help and have shown they can help relieve
Ceuta.”
Four
months ago, Spanish MPs approved a decree to redistribute the 4,400 foreign
minors in the Canary islands, Ceuta and Spain’s other north African enclave of
Melilla, across other regions.
The
decree, put forward by the socialist-led government and its parliamentary
allies, was criticised by the conservative People’s Party (PP), as “arbitrary
and unfair”. The far-right Vox party also voted against it, saying it opened
“the doors to military-age men who aren’t fleeing any wars and who come from
opposing cultures”.
In July,
PP-led regions boycotted a meeting on the redistribution of the children. .
According
to the UN’s International Organization for Migration, 572 people died or went
missing last year trying to reach Spain from north Africa, while 155 people
have lost their lives so far this year, seven of them children.
A
23-year-old Egyptian man was pulled from the Mediterranean a few weeks ago
after trying to reach Spain from Morocco using an inflatable ring and flippers.
In 2021, a boy was seen floating on empty plastic bottles in his attempt to
reach Ceuta.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário