Spain Returns 1,500 Out Of 6,000 Migrants From Ceuta Enclave To Morocco - Interior Chief

Faizan Hashmi Published May 18, 2021 | 07:16 PM

Spain has sent back to Morocco 1,500 out of some 6,000 undocumented migrants who earlier illegally entered the European country's Ceuta enclave, Spanish Minister for Home Affairs Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez said on Tuesday

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2021) Spain has sent back to Morocco 1,500 out of some 6,000 undocumented migrants who earlier illegally entered the European country's Ceuta enclave, Spanish Minister for Home Affairs Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez said on Tuesday.

Since Monday morning, groups of undocumented migrants have begun to cross the Moroccan-Spanish border in the area of the Ceuta enclave in northern Africa, swimming around border barriers installed in the sea. As a result, a record number of migrants illegally entered the country in a single day. Due to the massive influx, the authorities had to send additional police and Civil Guard units to the area, as well as troops. Despite the measures, young people continued to cross the border at night.

"We face an extraordinary situation of the migration crisis in Ceuta.

A total of 1,500 people have already been returned back and we continue to work with the troops needed to defend our borders," the minister said in an interview with the TVE broadcaster.

The minister went on to say that the authorities should "conduct a serial and real immigration policy" to defend democratic values and fight against any manifestation of xenophobia.

Due to the situation on the border, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez canceled his visit to Paris, saying that his current priority is to return Ceuta to normalcy.

Early on Tuesday, several groups of undocumented migrants from Morocco also reportedly crossed the Spanish border, entering the Melilla enclave on the northwestern coast of Africa. Some 300 people attempted to jump over a high border fence, with about 90 of them succeeding.