Morocco Detains Over 100 Migrants Attempting Ceuta Border Crossing

Moroccan authorities arrested at least 111 people on Saturday after a group attempted to reach Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.

The arrests occurred in and around Fnideq, the Moroccan city across the border from Ceuta. A source in Morocco's interior ministry stated that 109 of those arrested were from sub-Saharan Africa and two were Moroccan nationals. Morocco's Le360 media outlet reported 294 arrests, with 46 Moroccans and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa. Moroccan police used tear gas to disperse groups gathered on hills roughly two miles from the border.

The attempt followed calls on social media for another mass border crossing on August 15, a public holiday in Spain. Moroccan authorities had been monitoring these social media posts and warned that organizers and participants could face prosecution. Spain increased its security presence in Ceuta ahead of the expected attempt, deploying more than 500 additional police officers and soldiers, bringing the total security personnel in the enclave to over 1,600.

Madrid also installed a barrier in the sea to deter migrants from swimming to the territory. Heavily armed Spanish police patrolled main streets in Ceuta, and soldiers guarded supermarkets. This latest attempt comes two weeks after a mass crossing on July 30, when more than 72,000 people flooded into the border area. Most of those who entered Ceuta subsequently returned to Morocco, Spanish authorities said.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska stated that around 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta and would be returned to Morocco, except in cases of extreme vulnerability. Many of those still in Ceuta have been living in makeshift shelters along the beach. Chams Edine Yakoub, a 25-year-old Sudanese migrant, stated he was looking for opportunity in Europe, citing a lack of work, money, and housing in his country.