North Africa exclave: Spanish police clear migrant camp in Ceuta

According to government estimates, up to 80,000 migrants came to Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31. Most then returned to Morocco. However, thousands remain in the exclave.

As on the previous day, the migrants were driven in buses to the Tarajal border crossing. There they would be given the choice of either immediately returning to Morocco voluntarily or registering and then being accommodated in a tent camp, reported the Spanish state TV station RTVE.

Migrants fear deportation to Morocco

Many of the migrants shy away from registration and reception camps because they fear that they would then be more easily deported to Morocco, which is considered a safe country of origin. In addition, by recording their biometric data, even if they manage to get to mainland Spain or other EU countries, they could be more easily identified and deported to the country of initial registration or their home country.

On the first day of the latest eviction operation, 600 Moroccans voluntarily left Ceuta, RTVE reported. On the second day, many of the original 3,500 migrants who had been living in huts made of plastic sheeting on the beach for months fled into the surrounding forests.

The German private aid organization Mission Lifeline sharply criticized the actions of the Spanish authorities. “Under pressure and surrounded by brutal police with armored cars, there can be no question of voluntariness and a constitutional process,” said the head of the non-governmental organization from Dresden, Nolte Bauer, to the German Press Agency. The Spanish authorities must immediately stop what Bauer described as “deportations” and ensure an individual examination for each person.