The death toll in Spain’s border crisis with Morocco has risen to 86 after tens of thousands of migrants entered the tiny enclave of Ceuta in north Africa. Some people drowned or were killed in a deadly stampede as the border was overwhelmed.
Spain has announced it is installing a 500-metre containment barrier on the sea border between its territory and neighbouring Morocco, following a breach by up to 60,000 migrants earlier this week.
Containment barrier announced
Last month, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants arriving by sea to Ceuta could not be summarily deported. On Saturday morning, a handful of exhausted migrants who swam to Ceuta’s urban Tarajal beach were met by soldiers who escorted them back across the border.
Spain’s interior ministry says the majority of those who entered the territory have already returned to Morocco, claiming that 53,000 of the 60,000 who crossed have now gone back.
Returns under way
In Ceuta on Saturday, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said: "We are relentless against those who break the law." Asked how such a massive border breach could have happened given the heavy security on both sides, and whether Morocco posed a threat to Ceuta, Marlaska defended the government in Rabat.
He said: "The events require an evaluation by Spain and Morocco." But it was the cooperation with its neighbours that allowed Spain "to revert the situation in 24 hours". Marlaska added: "Morocco is not a threat to Ceuta, or to the rest of Spain. It is a reliable partner."
Uneasy calm in Ceuta
After days of chaos and streets packed with people who had hoped for a better life in Spain, residents of Ceuta woke up Saturday to an uneasy calm. Security in the autonomous city of 84,000 remained bruised.
Ceuta’s President Juan Jesus Vivas said: "Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident." He added: "The return of people has begun satisfactorily but the process must be completed."
Migrants’ accounts
In the Moroccan city of Tangier, about 46 miles west of Ceuta, the main railway station was busy with people returning from Ceuta or the border. Some slept on the ground, exhausted, as passers-by watched from a distance.
Aspiring migrant Abdalah said: "I tried to cross, but I failed. I stayed near the border with Ceuta for two days, but I couldn’t find anything to eat."
Attempts to cross continue
On the road leading to the Moroccan town of Fnideq, which borders Ceuta, many migrants were seen walking toward the fence, some barefoot, apparently hoping to try their luck. Taxi drivers and bus operators were refusing to take them, fearing retaliation from authorities. Police officers were deployed along the road, stopping and checking every vehicle heading toward Fnideq.
But some who made it to Ceuta were determined to stay, among them 23-year-old Moroccan Mohamed Hatri. He explained: "They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country." He added: "But even if they close it down - we’re round to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not."
