Morocco blames Ceuta chaos on misinformation, human trafficking
by Salma El Wardany · The Seattle Times(Bloomberg) — Morocco’s government said factors such as misinformation and human trafficking lured tens of thousands of migrants into illegally crossing into the Spanish-governed northern African enclave of Ceuta last week.
An Interior Ministry probe found the events weren’t caused by “circumstantial or spontaneous factors,” Morocco’s state news agency MAP reported late Sunday. It blamed “malicious exploitation of the digital space, promotion of misleading information, the role of human trafficking gangs and erroneous interpretations of legal and administrative data.”
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Morocco said it had recorded 11 deaths and was working with Spanish counterparts to verify the 72 fatalities the European nation is reporting. Spain said some 50,000 undocumented migrants arrived in Ceuta last week, sparking chaos at one of the European Union’s two land borders with Africa.
While Spain says the vast majority has since returned to Morocco, the events have sparked a dispute between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and some European Union member states. They’ve vowed to impose border checks, if necessary, and even suspend Spanish participation in Europe’s free-travel zone.
Interior Ministry spokesman Rachid El Khalfi was cited as saying the surge in crossings was partly due to “misinterpretations and misleading circulation” of a July 8 Spanish Supreme Court ruling restricting the immediate returns of migrants intercepted at sea. That encouraged some to attempt swimming to Ceuta, underestimating the risks, he said.
The sheer scale of the crossings has prompted speculation, including by political consultancy Teneo, that Morocco might have helped to instigate the crisis by relaxing border controls.
El Khalfi said crossings had reopened for voluntary returns in coordination with Spain, helping the situation gradually return to normal. The public prosecutor has begun investigations to fully determine what happened and who’s responsible.
Managing migration “can only be done within the framework of a comprehensive approach based on shared responsibility, genuine solidarity and burden-sharing,” the spokesman said. He described Morocco as remaining a reliable partner committed to international cooperation against irregular migration and human trafficking, willing to take all necessary measures to protect public order and border security.
Ceuta and Melilla, another nearby enclave, are Spanish territories and anyone entering is officially on EU soil, although it’s highly unlikely newly arrived migrants can move anywhere else in Europe from there.
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