MADRID – At least 18 migrants have died while attempting to enter Ceuta, Spain’s enclave on the North African coast, after thousands crossed from Morocco and prompted Madrid to send in military forces to help control the border.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is due to travel to Ceuta on Friday morning alongside Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska as authorities confront the escalating crisis.
Rachid Sbihi, head of a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, said the territory was facing a “serious humanitarian crisis.”
“People are still entering. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts,” he said, describing overwhelmed emergency services on the ground.
With no immediate shelter available, thousands of migrants — among them unaccompanied minors — have been sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, while others wandered through the streets with nowhere to go, Sbihi said. “It’s chaotic.”
Sbihi said many of the 18 victims drowned, while others were killed during the crush of people trying to get across the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach.
Footage recorded Thursday showed large groups, mostly Moroccans, moving around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach and onto nearby roads. Most appeared to be young men, though families, women and small children were also visible among the crowds.
“Viva España!” some shouted toward a freelance photographer working for the AP. The reason behind the sudden mass crossing into Ceuta was not immediately clear.
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Naishadham reported from Madrid.
