Spain and Morocco today strengthened the border fence of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and appear to have largely succeeded in stopping the mass crossing of illegal migrants, after preliminary estimates showed about 60,000 people had crossed the border in the past few days, the enclave's mayor, Juan Jesus Vivas, told journalists, quoted by Reuters, writes BTA.
The number of migrants who crossed the border represents more than half of Ceuta's population, Reuters notes. According to Agence France-Presse, citing Vivas, the number of those who crossed the border is as high as 70 percent of the enclave's population.
Ceuta is a small Spanish enclave in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast, which borders Morocco. The news of the mass crossing of migrants has caused shock and division in Europe. France said it was stepping up checks on its border with Spain, and Italy called for Spain to be suspended from Schengen.
Moroccan authorities have deployed water cannon trucks at the entrances to Ceuta, which are already pushing people away. The charred remains of a bus and seven cars set on fire during clashes with the crowds are seen nearby.
Spanish authorities have said they will try to expel illegal entrants as quickly as possible despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that imposed some restrictions on special "border pushback" rules that allow for immediate expulsions from the enclave.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to visit Ceuta on Monday with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The European Union is in contact with Moroccan authorities to resolve the crisis over the huge number of migrants who have crossed the border into Ceuta, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, as quoted by Reuters.
„(European Commissioner for the Mediterranean) Dubravka Šuica is in contact with colleagues in Morocco. I am confident that our close partnership with Morocco will help achieve concrete results“, Von der Leyen wrote in a post on the social platform Ex.
The President of the European Commission said that the footage we are witnessing from Ceuta is “unacceptable“.
“We cannot allow anyone to enter our EU without respecting our rules“, Von der Leyen added.