Roughly 100 migrants recently attempted to swim from Morocco to Spain’s north African city of Ceuta as the enclave warned it’s “totally overwhelmed”. The group, which included several children, were intercepted as they attempted to enter the territory. Seven children managed to reach the shore before being handed over to the regional authorities.
The treacherous route involves swimming from the Moroccan coast through the Strait of Gibraltar and around the border fences that extend into the sea to separate the country from Ceuta. A spokesperson for the Spanish central government’s delegation in Ceuta said: “About 100 people tried to get in, taking advantage of the foggy conditions, which make it hard to spot people. But they didn’t manage to do so because the Moroccan security forces and [Spain’s] Guardia Civil, working together with rescue boats, prevented them from getting to Ceuta.”
Since July 26 alone, more than 50 children have risked their lives to swim the perilous journey from Morocco.
Juan Jesús Rivas, the conservative president of the autonomous city, said it was “totally overwhelmed” with young migrants and pleaded with other Spanish regions for help.
He told El Pais last month: “We’re a territory that comprises 20 square kilometres of the 500,000 square kilometres that make up the whole of Spain, but we take in 3% of the minors.
“Who doesn’t get that this is an unsustainable situation? The situation in Ceuta is one of collapse and that poses a very serious risk when it comes to looking after minors and to the city as a whole.”
Alberto Gaitán, the Ceuta government’s spokesman, added that the enclave was home to 528 foreign minors at the end of July, despite officially being able to hold just 27.
He said: “Between 2021 and 2024, around 450 minors – to whom we should add another 80 because of family regrouping in different parts of Spain – were relocated to other self-governing regions.
“That shows that other regions, whatever their political hue, are there to help and have shown they can help relieve Ceuta.”
Earlier this year, Spanish MPs approved a decree to move 4,400 foreign minors from the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla to other regions.
Nearly 600 people died or went missing last year trying to reach Spain from north Africa, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration said. This year, 155 people, including seven children, died while making the journey.
