Maximum alert in Morocco and Spain in the face of a possible mass influx of migrants through Ceuta and Melilla
The security forces of Morocco and Spain are on high alert in the face of information spread on networks about the organisation of a possible mass passage of illegal migrants in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday through Ceuta and Melilla to jump from Africa to the European continent through Spanish territory.
Comments from various sources indicate that the passage through the borders of Ceuta and Melilla would supposedly take place in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday, which is why there is maximum tension in the border area between Moroccan and Spanish territory.
Morocco has already put the northern border with Ceuta and Melilla on high alert to prevent illegal migrants from entering illegally, as the dissemination of videos on social networks has been inciting young people to cross the border by land or sea in recent hours.
In fact, Moroccan security forces have carried out raids in Tangiers and Tetouan, in northern Morocco, to deactivate groups that could encourage these illegal migratory flows.
Security forces set up security belts days ago in different maritime and land enclaves to prevent any group attempts at illegal migration, according to local media reports.
These measures were deployed after several videos and information were disseminated on social networks announcing the organisation of mass assaults by illegal migrants at the border between Nador and Melilla and at the border crossing between Tetouan and Fnideq (Castillejos) and Ceuta.
While security and control devices were set up to monitor possible clandestine group movements of migrants, an investigation was also opened, leading to the arrest of dozens of young people.
Police in the cities of Tangiers and Tetouan have arrested more than 60 people in recent days, including minors, for their alleged involvement in the fabrication and dissemination of false news on social networks to encourage irregular migration.
A viral campaign was developed on social networks that directly incited young people to illegally cross the border crossings leading from Morocco to the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
All those arrested were brought before the courts to investigate the motives behind these acts and the dissemination of this information, while investigations continue to identify all those involved in the production and dissemination of false content and news promoting the irregular migration of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian nationals.
The Moroccan security and information surveillance services are working to trace all digital content on social networks related to the direct incitement to the assault on the security fence separating Melilla and Nador and Ceuta and Castillejos (Fnideq), in order to identify those involved and be able to arrest them and bring them to justice, as reported by various media outlets such as La Razón.
The Moroccan security forces installed dozens of fences to make access to the coasts difficult, and the aforementioned arrests were made of more than 60 people in Tangiers and Tetouan, suspected of creating and disseminating false news on social networks inciting ‘massive illegal immigration operations’.
Recently, the Moroccan authorities have proceeded to the expulsion of 39 people, mainly Algerian and Tunisian nationals, who were illegally in the territory and who are suspected of wanting to enter Ceuta illegally.
According to police sources, these people were sent back via Tunisia in two waves because diplomatic relations between Morocco and Algeria are very bad. They all left Moroccan territory on flights from Mohammed V airport in Casablanca.
The Spanish Guardia Civil also reinforced positions in Ceuta and Melilla in response to the alarm over a possible mass influx planned for the early hours of Saturday to Sunday.
According to information from the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC), the Civil Guard in Ceuta detected the dissemination of videos encouraging people to swim across the Tarajal jetty in the early hours of Sunday 15 September.
In view of this situation, the Guardia Civil has deployed significant human and material reinforcements to deal with the possible migratory pressure that could arise.
It should be noted that the Government Delegation in Ceuta has preferred not to confirm details of a possible extraordinary deployment for ‘security reasons’, although it has pointed out that the Spanish State security forces will be prepared for a possible exponential increase in migratory pressure in the area.
Police sources reported that the greatest security measures have been adopted in the Moroccan town of Castillejos (Fnideq), two kilometres from the border with Ceuta, with the incorporation of more police and military personnel in the area around the beach, where these types of migratory journeys usually begin. Up to 7,000 Moroccan police have been deployed between Tangiers and Castillejos to prevent incidents, as reported by various media such as RTVCE.
Meanwhile, on the Spanish side, both the Guardia Civil and the National Police remain on alert in the face of this situation, which this past August has already led to up to 700 attempts to enter the country per day on certain days, especially when there was heavy fog that made it difficult for the security forces to control.
Close cooperation between Morocco and Spain
Cooperation between Morocco and Spain on illegal migration is very strong due to the willingness of two countries that are considered neighbours and allies.
Cooperation in this area has always been very important, but it has become even closer in recent years due to bilateral diplomatic relations, which are now at one of their best moments after the Spanish government supported Morocco's territorial integrity after recognising the North African country's proposal for broad autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the ‘most serious, credible and realistic’ way of resolving the Sahrawi dispute, which has lasted almost fifty years since Spain left the area as a colonial power.
Collaboration between Moroccan and Spanish security forces is very close to control the sea and land crossings that separate the two national territories through the border crossings between Nador and Melilla and Fnideq and Tetouan.
This joint cooperation is aimed at combating illegal migration, which endangers the lives of thousands of people who try to reach European soil in any way they can to improve their living conditions and who are used by criminal gangs engaged in the business of illegal human trafficking; and, furthermore, cooperation that also tries to prevent on several occasions the transit of dangerous elements who are even linked in one way or another to terrorist groups.