Hundreds of migrants have pitched tents and set up a kind of camp on the beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, amid efforts by local authorities to cope with the thousands of people still there after a mass influx across the border last week, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco in the past four days, which means that more than 60,000 migrants have entered the territory, as local authorities initially announced. The official death toll on the Spanish side of the border has reached 72, while on the Moroccan side, 11.
Many migrants said they left because shops were closed and they could not get food. Migrants also said they were met with hostility by locals. Some migrants leaving Ceuta said they were doing so because they could not continue their journey to mainland Spain.
Ceuta and the other Spanish exclave in North Africa, Melilla, are located on Morocco's Mediterranean coast and are often the target of attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe.
A Reuters video showed dozens of migrants, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, lying on the sand at Ceuta's "El Trampoline" beach. Most of them had wrapped themselves in towels to protect themselves from the wind, as military and police vehicles patrolled the road behind them.
Ceuta Mayor Juan Jesús Vivas told Spanish television station Telecinco that between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remained in the enclave, stressing that the two reception centers for migrants - one for adults and the other for minors - were "overcrowded."
Local official Alberto Gaitan said the city was taking in 862 minor migrants who enjoy special legal protection against deportation.
The crisis has fueled anti-immigrant rhetoric across Europe and sparked diplomatic tensions within the European Union over border policy, with Spain criticizing some European partners for their response, which has done little to help Madrid at this difficult time and has only led to division in society.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez said today that Spain has supported other EU countries during migration crises and now expects reciprocal support. Álvarez sharply criticized the Italian government, accusing it of contributing to the spread of disinformation. Late last week, Italy suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain and ordered the introduction of checks at sea and air borders between the two countries.
Albarez recalled that Morocco immediately offered police support and did not set conditions for its cooperation, which allowed the rapid return of most of those who crossed into Spanish territory.
But the mayor of Ceuta said that the opinion was spreading in the city that it was Morocco that allowed - if not orchestrated - the crisis. "Morocco has shown us that it is not a reliable partner. "There is no alternative but to take all necessary measures to ensure that this does not happen again," Vivas told the Spanish newspaper "El Pais".
Yesterday, Morocco's Interior Ministry blamed the wave of migrants on disinformation on social media, human trafficking networks and the misinterpretation of a Spanish court ruling prohibiting the immediate return of migrants caught entering Spain by sea. This coincided with Madrid's official position.
According to the newspaper "El Pais" and radio "Cadena SER", which cited sources familiar with the matter, Spanish intelligence services have concluded that Morocco did not plan the mass crossing of the border, but allowed it to happen. Moroccan border controls were gradually eased in July and were reportedly lifted when large groups of people flocked to the "Tarajah" border crossing during Throne Day, a public holiday in Morocco, the reports said.
Morocco's interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said Morocco was "determined to strengthen international cooperation and coordination in the fight against irregular migration and human trafficking."
On Saturday, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters that the National Intelligence Center, Spain's domestic and foreign intelligence service under the control of the Defense Ministry, had not warned him of the impending influx of refugees. The newspaper "El Pais" reported today that this had caused tensions between the two ministries. An Interior Ministry spokesman played down reports of tensions.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles declined to comment on whether the National Intelligence Center had advance information about the mass influx across the border, adding that the agency's work was classified and praising the "exceptional work" of Spanish security officials.