Spanish Prime Minister, the Socialist Pedro Sanchez, said that a failure of Moroccan border controls led to the recent migration crisis in Ceuta, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
More than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta on July 30 and 31 from Morocco. Most of them returned to Morocco in the hours that followed. However, several thousand migrants remained on Spanish territory, where the situation has since deteriorated, leading to violence and almost daily protests by local residents.
„We are investigating what happened during those July days, "but we also asked Morocco to take action and give us answers because it is clear that its control of the border has failed," Sanchez told CNN in an interview in New York.
In front of the Spanish parliament on September 3, the Spanish prime minister said Madrid must ask Moroccan authorities for "explanations and changes" to prevent a repeat of the migrant influx in Ceuta. He also stressed that there was no "solid evidence" to suggest that Morocco had organised the influx.
A report by the Spanish police, seen by AFP, showed that the number of Moroccan police officers near the border crossing was "significantly lower than normal" and that officers had made "no serious effort" to stop the flow of migrants. The document is based on satellite images freely available accessible videos and testimonies of migrants.