Moroccan police have arrested ۱۱۱ people as they tried to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid tightened security on both sides after social media posts called for another mass crossing.
The attempted crossing on Saturday came two weeks after more than ۷۲,۰۰۰ migrants surged into Ceuta, causing tensions within the EU and prompting anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide. At least ۹۶ people died trying to reach European soil.
A source in Morocco’s interior ministry told news agency Reuters that those detained included ۱۰۹ migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and two Moroccan citizens arrested in or around Fnideq, the Moroccan city near Ceuta.
Moroccan police used teargas to disperse groups of migrants gathered on hills about ۱.۹ miles (۳km) from the border, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Reuters later saw hundreds of police officers, some in riot gear and others in plainclothes, returning from the hills outside Fnideq.
EFE and Spanish state broadcaster TVE said Morocco’s interior ministry ordered their journalists to leave Fnideq immediately, without providing an explanation.
In Ceuta, Spanish soldiers guarded supermarkets while police patrolled the main streets. The city was calmer than in the days after the deadly crossing attempt on ۳۰ July.
Madrid has since installed a maritime barrier and deployed more than ۵۰۰ additional police officers from mainland Spain, raising the total in Ceuta to more than ۱,۶۰۰. The interior ministry said the reinforcements would remain for as long as needed.
“We’ll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of ۳۰ July from happening again,” Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said on Thursday.
About ۵,۰۰۰ migrants remained in Ceuta, the minister added. Reuters saw hundreds sheltering from scorching heat under makeshift bamboo shelters on the urban beach of El Trampolin.
Grande-Marlaska said migrants who entered irregularly would not be allowed to stay in the territory, travel to mainland Spain or obtain legal status, except in rare cases involving extreme vulnerability. Those without a right to remain would be returned to Morocco, he added.
Earlier this week, Rabat said it was monitoring “the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin” calling for a mass crossing on ۱۵ August, warning it would prosecute organisers and participants.
A Reuters witness saw reinforced security near the border, including police vans with wire shields and road checkpoints. Local media reported similar measures near Melilla, another Spanish territory in north Africa.
Authorities prevented several groups from boarding trains and buses to northern Morocco in cities such as Casablanca, Fez and Kenitra. However, witnesses told Reuters that some migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were bypassing security checkpoints by taking mountain routes towards Fnideq.
One witness said the schools in Fnideq had been turned into accommodation for security forces deployed near the border.
