A thousand migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Moroccan press, attempted to cross the fence that separates Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the morning of Friday, November 17. Divided into several groups, they converged on three locations: to the north of the city, at the Benzú neighborhood, to the south, near Tarajal beach, and further east, in the Finca Berrocal area. Most were stopped on Moroccan territory by the police, but around a hundred managed to approach the external barrier of Ceuta, a few managing to scale it without crossing it, according to the Spanish Guardia Civil .
Quoted by Moroccan media, the Fnideq prefecture reported numerous arrests among migrants. Some “resorted to excessive violence using bladed weapons”, say the Moroccan authorities, who put the number of “light” injuries at eighty, including around fifty among the security forces. Shared on social networks by local residents, videos show hundreds of men running along a road, without it being known whether they are heading towards the border or fleeing the police. Others are stationary, while a helicopter flies over them.
“A scene that repeats itself tirelessly”
According to the Spanish news agency EFE, this is the third time in twenty days that migrants have attempted to cross the border in Ceuta. They have never been so numerous since 2019, say NGOs. Although no deaths have been reported, this umpteenth attempt is reminiscent of another, this time deadly: on June 24, 2022, nearly thirty migrants were killed while trying to enter Melilla. Several dozen are still missing, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.
“What happened in Ceuta on Friday is a scene that repeats itself tirelessly, the consequence of the outsourcing of border controls in Europe,” explains Mohamed Balga, secretary general of Pateras de la vida, a Moroccan association that monitors to the rights of sub-Saharan immigrants. This closure of borders is synonymous with human tragedies, it is being done with the consent of Europe and the complicity of the Moroccan and Spanish authorities, who have made immigration a bargaining chip. »
Since the resumption of their relations in April 2022, after a year of diplomatic freeze due to the hospitalization in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, relations between Rabat and Madrid have been in good shape. The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, declared his support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, breaking with Spain’s historic neutrality in this matter. In return, Madrid has secured the support of Moroccan authorities in the fight against irregular immigration, granting the kingdom additional funding – more than 30 million euros in October 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the number of entries illegal entry into Spain from Ceuta and Melilla has fallen by 80%, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.
Cooperation between Madrid and Rabat
The contrast is striking between the current situation and that which still prevailed two years ago. In May 2021, the Spanish government did not have harsh enough words to denounce an “aggression” by Morocco after the passage of more than 8,000 migrants through Ceuta, going so far as to denounce “blackmail” by Rabat, accused of exploiting “miners” to put pressure on Madrid.
Against a backdrop of reconciliation, criticism has now given way to kindness. On both sides, the migration partnership between the two countries is considered “exceptional”. “It’s a model of North-South cooperation,” noted the Spanish Secretary of State for Migration in June. It is this same collaboration that made it possible to “contain the attempted crossing” in Ceuta, according to the Iberian press. Moroccan law enforcement officials reportedly warned their Spanish counterparts during the night from Thursday to Friday of the presence of a first group “of around 150 migrants” near the border. The “prepared and combined” action of the authorities of the two countries did the rest.
