The death toll in a mass rush of tens of 1000’s of individuals attempting to cross onto a tiny peninsula on Morocco’s coast has risen to 67.
Border controls along the six-mile-long peninsula have broken down in recent days, allowing people to cross onto a side governed by Spain.
Some 50,000 migrants climbed over 20-foot-high border fences or swum for hours to get into the town of Ceuta this week, totally on Thursday.
The surge of individuals in search of a fresh start within the North African exclave saw dozens drown or be crushed while trying to succeed in the opposite side.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the top of Ceuta’s government, said the situation is completely unsustainable’ for a city of just 83,000.
At the very least 48,300 migrants, mostly young Moroccan men in search of work, have been returned to Morocco as of Friday evening.
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City officials have refused to feed or shelter those that remain in the town.
‘We have now not eaten in two days’
Soufiane ez-Znafry, 26, from Morocco, told The Latest York Times that many turned back for one reason: hunger.
‘All these persons are hungry because we’ve got not eaten in two days,’ he said, saying his stomach was ‘growling’.
The sous chef left Tangier, a city in northwestern Morocco, for Ceuta on Thursday carrying a bag of clothing and just a few prized possessions.
After making it to the town, ez-Znafry said Spanish authorities took his bag away and only gave him a pair of sandals to wear.
Other Moroccans told the newspaper that they’ve been beaten – sometimes until unconscious – by hooded people.
Teens as young as 15 told Spanish EL PAÍS that they fled to Ceuta without even telling their parents, now looking to seek out a phone to inform their families they’re secure.
Spain is a principal point of arrival for people in search of a brand new life in Europe, or those fleeing from war or violence of their home countries.
Spain began installing a floating barrier near a sea wall on the Tarajal breakwater between the borders this morning.
A handful of exhausted migrants who swam to the beach this morning were met by soldiers who forced them to return.
The 1,640-foot buoy will create ‘a containment barrier, a physical barrier, if only a visible one’ to strengthen the borders, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Friday.
The precise reason behind the sudden influx is unclear, but Sánchez blamed it on smuggling groups exploiting a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Judges ruled that the Spanish authorities cannot immediately expel asylum seekers who try and swim to Spain’s territories in Africa.
Human traffickers have spread rumours in regards to the ruling, Sánchez added on Friday, misleading them into considering it means they might remain on Spanish soil.
The deaths have been seized by right-wing politicians across Europe, with Italy suspending its Schengen Area agreement with Spain.
The country will subject non-European Union residents entering Italy from Spain to additional scrutiny this month.
The Schengen Area allows for passport-free movement amongst European Union member states; Ceuta, nevertheless, isn’t a part of it.
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