A tiny Spanish exclave in northern Africa which has been “totally overwhelmed” by migrants is seeing a rise in people trying to reach it by swimming. Around 100 people, many of which were children, attempted to make the perilous journey in the water from neighbouring Morocco to Ceuta on Saturday morning.
The autonomous city’s authorities have already warned it is struggling under the influx of young migrants, urging other regions to step up and do more. Dozens of people were reportedly intercepted while trying to swim to Ceuta. Seven children managed to reach the shore and were handed over to the regional authorities, reports say.
“About 100 people tried to get in, taking advantage of the foggy conditions, which make it hard to spot people,” said a spokesperson for the Spanish central government’s delegation in Ceuta, according to The Guardian, who confirmed seven children had arrived.
“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.”
Migrants who swim to Ceuta usually set off from the Moroccan coast.
The journey is treacherous as they enter the dangerous currents of the Strait of Gibraltar – one of the world’s busiest waterways – to get around border fences which go out into the sea around Ceuta.
There has been a rise in cases in recent weeks, with more than 50 children reportedly swimming across from Morocco on July 26.
Those that are intercepted are returned to Morocco.
The president of Ceuta has previously voiced serious concerns over the migration levels, warning of a collapse in the city.
Juan Jesús Rivas last month said Ceuta was “totally overwhelmed” by the number of young migrants it was hosting.
He told the Spanish newspaper El País: “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.”
The Ceuta government’s spokesman recently said the territory was hosting 528 foreign minors when it was officially only able to hold 27, adding contingency plans were already in place to send the children to other parts of Spain.
Spanish MPs earlier this year approved a decree — put forward by the country’s left-wing government and its coalition allies – to redistribute 4,400 foreign minors in the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish exclave in north Africa, across other regions, reported The Guardian.
However, it has been met with resistance by opposing political parties.
It comes as new figures show more than 50,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since Labour returned to power.