Hundreds of migrants stormed the border separating Spain's Melilla enclave from Morocco on Friday, the first such attempted mass crossing into the territory since the two nations mended diplomatic ties in March. Melilla and Ceuta, Spain's other tiny North African enclave, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, making them a magnet for migrants. A group of over 400 migrants stormed the border fence at 8:40 am Friday and a "significant number" managed to get in, the Spanish government's local delegation said in a statement. Morocco deployed a "large" amount of forces to try to repel the assault on the border, who "cooperated actively" with Spain's security forces. A month later, some 10,000 migrants surged across the Moroccan border into Spain's Ceuta enclave as border guards looked the other way, in what was widely seen as a punitive gesture by Rabat.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 24, 2022 12:03 UTC