Spain Says Migrants Are Returning From Ceuta After 57 Die in Border Rush

Spain said on Friday it had reversed a huge rush of migrants into a Spanish enclave in North Africa, with most of the more than 50,000 people who had crossed the border by land and sea ​already heading back voluntarily.

The Spanish government’s representative in Ceuta said 57 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the border and that there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side. ‌It said some drowned and some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said around 50,000 people had crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that 48,300 had returned by 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Friday. Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta’s local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across over the past couple of days.

Moroccan forces beat back crowds with batons and tear gas at the gates to Ceuta, trying to prevent more from entering the tiny Spanish territory that juts on ​a spit of sandy land into the Mediterranean from Morocco.

{snip}

Italy said it ​was suspending the European Union’s border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain, a measure set to affect people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries. Madrid said the move violated ⁠EU treaties.

{snip}

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to Ceuta on Friday, where he was greeted with insults from protesters. He called ​the mass crossing “a violation of Spain’s territorial sovereignty” and said authorities were speeding up the repatriation of those who had entered illegally, with full cooperation from Morocco.

{snip}

Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said that among factors contributing to the surge may have been a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court earlier this month that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily rejected at the border.

{snip}