Overwhelming security presence defeats social media-fueled migration push, but some cross

Heavy security presence in Beni Ansar and Fnideq today thwarted weeks of online mobilization that called for individuals to make a collective push toward the Spanish enclaves.

Security forces, including elements of the National Security, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Royal Armed Forces and civil protection were deployed heavily around both enclaves while helicopters patrolled the skies above the border, Hespress journalists reported on the ground.

According to the Spanish website El Faro de Ceuta, hundreds of sub-Saharan, Moroccan, and Algerian migrants attempted to cross the fence into Ceuta, clashing with Spanish and Moroccan security forces, who eventually brought the situation under control by noon.

Both Moroccan and Spanish authorities used sound bombs, tear gas, and aerial surveillance to control the situation, but some migrants have successfully crossed the barriers.

While the organizers of the migration attempt had promised a major mobilization, the heavy security presence and potential risks deterred several migrants including Moroccans, and others from North Africa,  the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa from attempting to swim to Ceuta.

But despite checkpoints on major roads and systematic searches of vehicles and passengers, a large number of migrants managed to reach the town of Fnideq, the last point before the border.

Nevertheless, authorities arrested over a thousand individuals in the preceding two weeks, including hundreds of minors, who were attempting to reach the enclaves through various means of transportation.

Up to ten buses carrying deportees were reported leaving the region daily leading up to September 15.

The situation around Melilla remained relatively calm compared to the events near Ceuta. A security source attributed this to the geographical challenges faced by migrants in reaching the beaches or the border from Beni Ansar.