The serene waters of Ceuta’s southern bay have witnessed in recent days a sustained increase in the number of migrants trying to reach land by swimming. In the last few hours, this crossing route has not stopped being traveled either during the day or at night, putting the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard in check.
Only yesterday morning, sources consulted by this newspaper reported the rescue of 20 people, all men who were equipped with tire tubes as floats. Despite the efforts of the patrol boats, many managed to reach the shore on their own. Others were not so lucky. At least one of them disappeared at sea, so a search effort was launched that included Maritime Rescue and ground patrols from the armed institute, which continued at the time of going to press.
Unfortunately, this week there have already been three fatalities due to drowning in attempts to cross to the autonomous city. According to knowledgeable sources, in the last two days, the Civil Guard managed to rescue at least a hundred migrants. And the number of people attempting this dangerous crossing is expected to continue to rise in the coming hours, putting security forces and rescue services under extreme pressure.
One of the most striking data is the nationality of these migrants. 90% of those who try to reach Ceuta and those who succeed are Algerians. Morocco, for its part, has shown reluctance to accept these citizens, which further complicates the management of the problem. The sources consulted suggest that the increase in crossings is not coincidental. “When there is an increase in these types of situations it is because Morocco allows it,” they point out.
Although the Benzú area also suffers migratory activity, the Moroccan Navy is more active at that point. On the other hand, in the southern bay, if the migrants are not Moroccans, they generally advance without impediments.
The usual protocol is for Civil Guard maritime patrols to guide Moroccan teams to the migrants in the water to pick them up. However, when they see that the Spanish patrol boat is locating them, they try to swim faster to avoid being sent back to the Moroccan area.
In addition, migrants are trying to swim further from the coast so as not to be seen and to be able to enter by taking a long detour, which makes the journey more dangerous. In these cases, once they enter Spanish waters, the Civil Guard has the obligation to rescue them.
This migratory pressure has continued throughout the summer. In July, an operation against the jet skis that traffickers use to transport migrants from Morocco resulted in the intervention of many of these vessels. The Government delegation activated a device from the GRS – Reserve and Security Groups of the Civil Guard -, which were deployed on the coast to prevent these arrivals on motorcycles and small boats.
Collaboration on immigration with Morocco is decisive and the coming weeks will be crucial to establish how the authorities will address this crisis and what solutions they will propose to guarantee the safety of migrants and manage the migratory flow on Europe’s southern border. Before weather conditions worsen in the autumn, security services predict that attempts to swim across will increase.