On Monday, nearly 6,000 migrants crossed the border between Morocco and Ceuta, a record high for a single day. Of these, 1,500 were returned to Morocco, according to Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
Most of the migrants reached the Spanish enclave by swimming or wading into the low tide from Moroccan beaches a few kilometers away. Some have used inflatable shower rings or inflatable boats. Man drowned.
– I saw on Facebook that it is possible to cross the border, so I took a taxi here with my friends because I could no longer get food for my family, says the 26-year-old divorced and unemployed mother, Warda.
– I’m not afraid. Either I’m dead or I’m done.
The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla It is the only land border of the European Union with Africa. This means that many immigrants are trying to get there in hopes of a better future in Europe.
The situation between Morocco and Spain has been tense since it emerged that the leader of the Polisario Front Brahim Ghali was in a Spanish hospital being treated for COVID-19.
The Polisario Front is fighting for Western Sahara to become independent from Morocco. Analysts have warned that diplomatic tensions between the governments of Madrid and Rabat could harm cooperation in the area of illegal immigration.
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