On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, thousands of Moroccans tried to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta following a false social media announcement stating that King Mohamed VI was reopening the border to the Spanish enclave and that the Police would allow illegal crossings along the beach, marking a similar situation to the migration crisis that occurred on May 2021.
The authorities of the Alawite kingdom have designed a comprehensive system to deter Moroccan migrants from crossing illegally, showing that Morocco has once again established cooperation along its border, contrary to May last year when the Moroccan security forces turned a blind eye and even assisted the migrants across the borders.
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in Morocco were marked by protests and clashes between those seeking to enter Ceuta and the Moroccan security authorities deployed across the country.
Morocco’s Ministry of Interior issued a notice warning that the Head of Government had ordered the prefectures of Tetouan and M’diq to contain and control people approaching the Castillejos area, including guarding the road that circles the city and ends at the border crossing, and the road that directly links customs with the road coming from Tangier.
The authorities in Tetouan and Tangier arrested three people – two men and one woman – after an open investigation determined that the false announcement had originated on Facebook and through telephone chat groups. Both the men and the woman were accused of spreading false news that put the security of the state at risk.
Morocco’s agents deployed during the deployment identified several hundred people who were forced to board buses chartered by the government to return to their places of residence. Morocco’s security forces have thus foiled the mass entry attempt.
Only a small number of sub-Saharan Africans managed to breach the fence unscathed. The Spanish Civil Guard and National Police, supported by a helicopter, remained on alert, watching with close attention what occurred across the border.
Among many other reasons, Morocco’s continued collaboration in the fight against illegal immigration is based on the international discredit that resulted from the events of May 2021.
On June 10, two weeks after the serious mass migration crisis, the European Parliament passed a resolution rejecting Morocco’s use of border control and immigration “as political pressure against an EU member state,” deploring in particular, “the participation of children, Unaccompanied minors and families at the border crossing to the Spanish city of Ceuta, putting their lives and safety at risk.”
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.