RABAT, Sept 20 (Askume) – Morocco has arrested 152 people who will now be prosecuted on allegations they used social media to incite mass illegal migration to the neighbouring Spanish territory of Ceuta, a government spokesman said.
In recent days, thousands of mainly young Moroccan men have flocked to the northern town of Fenidik, bordering Ceuta, in an attempt to cross the border. Their efforts have been hampered by the town’s most intense security deployment yet, according to human rights activists there.
“All attempts have been thwarted,” spokesman Mustafa Baitas said at a news conference late Thursday.
“Nearly 3,000 people tried to migrate illegally,” he said in his first official comments a few days after the attempted crossing.
Spain’s two enclaves on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, Ceuta and Melilla, share the only land border between the EU and Africa. They occasionally experience waves of migrants crossing the border trying to reach Europe.
Morocco and Spain have stepped up cooperation on tackling illegal immigration since Madrid backed Morocco’s controversial Western Sahara autonomy plan in 2022.
Footage shared by local media showed youths throwing stones at security forces as they were prevented from approaching the Ceuta border.
“There have been no reports of deaths so far,” Batas said, adding that officers had acted in accordance with the law.
In the first eight months of this year, Morocco prevented 45,015 people from migrating illegally to Europe, according to the Interior Ministry.
Spanish police say hundreds of migrants took advantage of heavy fog to swim to Ceuta last month.
Tighter surveillance of Morocco’s northern border has prompted more migrants to attempt the risky, long Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.
