Spain and Morocco bolster security to prevent new border rush – The Irish Times

Spain and Morocco have reinforced security in and around the city of Ceuta, due to concerns that a mass crossing by thousands of migrants two weeks ago could be repeated.

On July 30th and 31st, tens of thousands of African migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish city on the North African coast. Seventy-two thousand people reached the city, according to Spanish government estimates, many of them by swimming around the border fence. Eighty-three people died, many of whom drowned, the government said, although a human rights group put the death toll at 141.

While the majority of the migrants who crossed have been sent back to Morocco, several thousand remain.

Social media activity identifying August 15th as the date for another mass migrant crossing, to Ceuta or its sister city Melilla, has put the authorities on both sides of the border on alert. Spain has increased the number of police and civil guards in Ceuta from 1,100 to 1,600. The security forces have expressed concerns about another possible border incident and the civil guard posted a message on social media for migrants considering attempting to reach Ceuta.

“Everything you are being promised is a lie,” read the post, which was published in Spanish, Arabic and French. “If you go into the sea you will probably die. If you manage to cross, you will have arrived illegally and you will be returned.”

Morocco has deployed soldiers along its border with the city and installed extra fencing.

“All the measures have been taken needed to prevent any illegal attempt to cross and to intercept anyone who tries to take part in it,” Rachid El Khalfi, spokesman for the Moroccan interior ministry, said.

The exact cause of the July mass crossing has not been identified, although Madrid has blamed people-traffickers.

The Spanish authorities are trying to resolve the challenge posed by the migrants who are still in Ceuta, many of whom are sleeping rough. Local people have demonstrated to express their worries about the situation. Spanish interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has said, “None of them is going to remain [in the city], none of them will go to the [Spanish mainland].”

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However, the legal status of migrant children who arrived in the city is more complex. The authorities have revised up their estimate of the number of minors to 4,000.

The alleged possibility of migrants travelling from Ceuta, which is outside the Schengen travel zone, to other parts of Spain and the European Union has triggered a spat between Italy and Spain. Rome has introduced extra travel controls for people arriving from Spain, which has reciprocated the measure.

In an interview, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said authorities in her country were “extremely vigilant” with regard to the possibility of a new attempt to cross the border to Spanish territory.