Nine dead as thousands of migrants swim to Spain’s Ceuta from Morocco; military to be deployed to restore order

Thousands of migrants swam from Morocco into a tiny Spanish village territory Cueta on Thursday, with nine individuals dying in the process, following which the central government has decided to deploy military in the area to restore order at its border.

Madrid made the announcement after local authorities of the region asked the government to supply them with reinforcements in order to manage the border crisis.

The government has said that the Armed Forces would be sent to Cueta in order to help the Civil Guards “maintain security in the city of Ceuta.” The Prime Minister of the country, Pedro Sanchez, will be visiting Cueta on Friday with the Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

“The situation is absolute chaos,” the head of the association that represents Spain’s border security police, the Civil Guards, said to the Associated Press. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he told the publication, adding that the border between the two countries had “totally collapsed.”

“The Tarajal border was opened under unusual circumstances this morning and people crossed,” AP quoted Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in northern Morocco, as saying.

Migrants filmed walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach and onto local roads, were mostly young men, while some were families with small children.

The Spain government delegation in the region revealed that nine people have died while attempting to cross the border. While no details were provided about the deceased, AP revealed that bodies could be seen floating in the water. Local authorities have reported that dozens have died this year in their attempts to reach Cueta.

The reason behind this jump in migrants arriving into Cueta remains unclear.

The Spain government revealed that it was “closely cooperating” with its Moroccan counterpart to handle the situation, and that the latter is stopping “numerous people” from crossing the border. It revealed that both countries are working “for the return, as soon as possible, of all the people who entered Ceuta illegally.”

Authorities in Cueta had early linked the surge in migrants crossing over to a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court earlier this month which barred authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea without due process. However, the ruling does not apply to those who cross into Spain by land, including climbing over the border fence, AP reported.

In order to reach Cueta, migrants often swim from Morocco’s Fnideq and cover around 5 km to reach Spanish territory. Some also attempt to cross from the town from Belyounech, from where the distance is shorter.