Morocco stops hundreds of migrants crossing into Ceuta

The authorities in Morocco have once again prevented hundreds of young men from migrating illegally to Europe via the Spanish-administered enclave of Ceuta. Several video clips were posted online by Moroccan activists and local media on Saturday which showed security forces in the northern Moroccan city of Fnideq chasing several young men heading for Ceuta.

Al-3omk Almaghribi said yesterday that security reinforcements had been deployed at the border crossing between Fnideq and Ceuta. Calls had been made on social media for a mass storming of the security fence near Ceuta to take place on 15 September.

“The security authorities deported 2,400 people who were likely to try to migrate illegally ‘within three days’,” reported Hespress on Saturday, citing an unnamed official source. “They were arrested while heading towards Fnideq in preparation for emigrating to Ceuta.”

Sixty people were arrested in Morocco last Wednesday on suspicion of using social media to organise irregular immigration operations. The General Directorate of National Security said at the time that it had launched security operations in Tangier and Tetouan “to combat digital content inciting irregular migration.”

The DGSN noted that the arrested individuals are suspected of also being involved in fabricating and publishing fake news on social media networks. “Digital content was monitored and found to directly incite the storming of the security fence located between Fnideq and Ceuta on 15 September.”

Earlier this year, the Interior Ministry in Rabat announced that it prevented 75,184 attempts at irregular migration during 2023, an increase of six per cent over 2022. Africans from many countries, including Morocco, are trying to migrate in search of a better life in Europe, amid economic crises and armed conflicts in African countries.

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