Over 73,000 migrants have returned from Ceuta to Morocco
The death toll from the attempt to swim to the exclave has risen to 72
The return to Morocco of the migrants who entered Ceuta en masse on 30 July – in the worst migration crisis yet recorded in the autonomous city – is continuing. According to Spanish security force sources quoted by the Efe news agency, around 73,500 people have now left Ceuta to return across the border, whilst the death toll from attempts to swim to the exclave has risen to 72. However, the Ministry of the Interior has not confirmed these figures, maintaining that between 50,000 and 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta, of whom more than 48,300 are reported to have already returned.
According to the Ceuta government, the provisional death toll of those recovered from Spanish waters off the exclave stands at 67. At least a further 17 bodies are reported to have been found on the Moroccan side of the coast, according to local media. Meanwhile, at least 1,149 injured migrants who entered the enclave have received medical treatment. Among them is one person in a serious condition who will be transferred to a hospital on the Iberian Peninsula, according to a statement from the National Institute for Health Management (Ingesa). The institute states that healthcare is continuing to be provided ‘as normal’ as part of the special response mechanism activated in coordination with the Ceuta Government Delegation, to deal with the increase in emergencies involving people entering en masse from Morocco.
Leone XIV: concerned about Ceuta, let’s find the right solutions
“I am following the alarming situation in Ceuta with concern, praying to God that, through the intercession of Our Lady of Africa, solutions may be found that bring peace, stability and justice.” Pope Leo said this, speaking in Spanish during the Angelus.
Vox: ‘Militarise and close the border with Morocco for good’
“To militarise the border between Ceuta and Morocco”, following the migrant “invasion” of recent days, and “to order the permanent closure of the border crossing until Rabat provides guarantees that this will never happen again”. This was stated by the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, in comments to the media following a visit to the autonomous city, which has been hit by the worst migration crisis on record. “We are facing a brutal attack on our sovereignty, an act of war,” insisted the leader of Spain’s far-right party, who believes that “drastic measures” are urgently needed.
