More than 5,000 migrants, about 1,000 of them presumed to be minors, crossed into Spain’s northern African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, in an unprecedented influx that left Spanish officials scrambling to bolster police presence in the tiny territory. Ceuta, along with nearby Melilla, has long been a magnet for African migrants hoping to cross into Europe, despite being heavily protected and fortified with a double fence. The Spanish government delegation in Ceuta told El País that migrants began crossing into the territory in the early hours of Monday, steadily streaming in from neighbouring Morocco all day. On Monday, Mohammed Ben Aisa, head of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights, a nonprofit group that works with migrants in northern Morocco, linked the migrants’ crossing to the diplomatic row. When asked, Spain’s foreign minister said she had no knowledge of whether Morocco had relaxed its controls over irregular immigration.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 17, 2021 18:22 UTC