Over 6,000 migrants returned to Morocco by Spain

In the last few days, around 8,000 people arrived in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa. Most of them arrived in the enclave by scaling a border fence or swimming around it and hope to make their way from there all the way to Europe. Every year, hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers attempt to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe, however their journey encompasses many hurdles and remains dangerous until the end. Amongst the 8,000 that crossed the border, around 450 of them are unaccompanied minors, rendering the reunification or repatriation complicated. Spanish authorities were overwhelmed as they received thousands of calls from worried relatives regarding the minors in Ceuta. Whilst Morocco has already taken back more than 6,600 migrants who made it to Ceuta, the rest is still being processed by authorities.

Spanish law obliges the state to care for young migrants, until their relatives can be located or they turn 18. If locating the relatives is an issue, then the authorities may decide to relocate and distribute the minors to the mainland. A young, 18-year-old, Moroccan was interviewed on the matter and claimed that the surge in migrants crossing to Spanish territories is no surprise. In his words, Morocco benefits by sending and clearing people out – it, supposably,  serves the north African country as experiment. Moroccan authorities have not yet responded to AP’s repeated requests for comments. Tensions between Morocco and Spain were on the rise when Spain agreed to provide COVID-19 aid to a Sahrawi leader fighting for independence against Morocco. Moroccan authorities, while blaming Spain for the diplomatic dispute, have denied involvement in or encouraging this week’s mass migrant crossings to the enclave, Ceuta.