CEUTA :

 

OVER 60,000 migrants have entered Spain’s Ceuta from Morocco in the past 24 hours, Ceuta’s President says. That is equivalent to 70 per cent of the city’s regular population. At least 57 migrants have died in the process. “The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable,” said Juan Jesus Vivas on Friday. The border crisis boiled over Thursday and continued on Friday with security forces clashing with migrants on the Moroccan side of the border. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the breach of the border on Friday speaking in Ceuta, describing the events as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.” The Spanish leader cast blame on human smugglers, 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.”

 

Live footage of the border showed hundreds of migrants gathered on a hill overlooking Ceuta being dispersed with tear gas by Moroccan forces, while others continued to swim to the Spanish territory. At the same time, large groups of migrants walked back from Ceuta toward Morocco to return home. Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, called the situation a “serious humanitarian crisis,” saying thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, while others roamed the streets aimlessly. “People are still entering. The reinforcements, including Spanish military troops, that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts,” he said. “It’s chaotic.”