Albares Reaffirms Morocco’s Continued Cooperation on Ceuta Migrants’ Return

Rabat – Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares emphasized Rabat’s continued cooperation on migration amid criticism and anti-Morocco rhetoric from the far-right.

Albares told the media that Morocco’s cooperation will ensure that “every last person who has entered Spain irregularly returns to Morocco.”

The Spanish minister also pointed out the disinformation spread on social media, triggering the mass crossings in Ceuta last month.

He said the Spanish government and the European Commission are working with digital platforms to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

The Spanish government has been pledging to monitor all messages that are sweeping social media and are urging another mass crossing on August 15.

EFE also said there is a military order to suspend personnel holidays to ensure a full mobilization and deter any possible incidents.

This comes as Spain and Morocco are renewing their determination to continue boosting cooperation against human trafficking and irregular migration.

The Spanish enclave witnessed one of the largest mass crossings on July 30, when tens of thousands of migrants crossed or attempted to swim to the region.

Spanish reports alleged 80,000 people crossed to the region, while Morocco said 40,000 headed to Ceuta.

Morocco also reported 14 deaths during the attempts, while Spanish reports alleged Ceuta authorities received at least 88 bodies.

Meta and TikTok agreed to work with the European Union on fact-checking social media content linked to migration attempts into the Spanish-occupied enclave of Ceuta from Morocco following the Ceuta crossing incident.

The agreement aims to limit false or misleading information that could encourage migrants to attempt dangerous crossings, EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen said Monday.

EFE last week quoted police sources who confirmed that security forces have been monitoring the campaign for several days, examining the posts with “great caution.”

“The origin of these messages could cross the borders of Spain and Morocco. In other words, they don’t rule out that the origin is in other countries and that even the number of followers or likes has been manipulated,” the agency said.