Crisis in Ceuta: Pedro Sánchez blamed “the mafias that traffic humans” and warned that they will speed up deportations

It was during a press conference held after his arrival in the Iberian enclave and after holding meetings with the main local authorities. “The Government of Spain is with the city of Ceuta,” said Sánchez, who added: “We take charge of the emotional state, of the situation of anguish that they are experiencing during these last hours.”

The president did not hesitate to describe what happened in Ceuta as “an attack and a violation of the territorial sovereignty of Spain.” He also expressed “a reproach and condemnation at the highest possible level” of the massive arrivals. “It is deplorable,” he added, and promised that they will use all the resources of the State to support the citizens of Ceuta.

He also stated that the expulsion files for the thousands of migrants who have arrived in Ceuta these days are being expedited.

“We have had discussions with the Moroccan authorities, and what underlies it is the interested reading that the mafias that traffic in human beings have made of a Court ruling Supreme,” he said.

The precedent to which the reference refers dates back to the first days of July, when the Spanish Supreme Court confirmed that the Immigration Law does not allow the application of rejection at the border, also known as “hot returns” (immediate expulsion), of immigrants intercepted on the high seas.

“What this ruling does is ratify another previous ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia through which it is said that repatriations at the border do not apply, the repatriation of those who enter our space by swimming, by sea. This is considering that there is no physical border, as if there is when crossing a land border,” Sánchez explained.

“This reading of the ruling has spread like wildfire in the last few hours in the networks of mafias that traffic in human beings and caused the avalanche that was seen in the last hours,” Sánchez said.

At the same time, the president opened this Friday to study a possible reform of the immigration law to guarantee that repatriations at the border are done “in the most efficient way possible.” Regarding the deadlines, Sánchez said that they aim to carry out the expulsions “as soon as possible” and that they work with the countries of origin, among which he named Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal or Gambia.

“It is estimated that some 60,000 people have entered in the last few hours, which is equivalent to 70% of the population of Ceuta. The situation is unsustainable,” said the president of the Spanish enclave in Morocco, Juan Jesús Vivas, in statements to the media after a meeting with Sánchez, the Minister of the Interior and the senior officers of the security forces.

“It is as if 34 million people had entered Spain in 24 hours. A figure that indicates that it is absolutely impossible to absorb this pressure,” he said, and denounced the “sense of restlessness, helplessness and, in some cases, abandonment” that the population is experiencing

The crossings were made on foot through the southern border breakwater of Tarajal, a situation that It was repeated hours later with thousands of others irregularly accessing the city. In these waves, at least 34 people died.

Thousands of people spent the night outdoors, without access to food or basic services. Due to this overpopulation that occurred in the last hours, thousands of migrants began to leave Ceuta and return to Morocco of their own free will.