Ceuta Mayor-President States Thousands of Migrants Remain After Morocco Border Crossings

Ceuta's Mayor-President, Juan Jesús Vivas, has stated that approximately 2,500 to 3,000 migrants who crossed from Morocco in May 2021 are still present in the Spanish enclave. This figure includes some 650 unaccompanied minors, underscoring the enduring humanitarian and logistical challenges facing the territory.

Mr Vivas confirmed that around 78,000 individuals attempted to enter Ceuta during the period of mass crossings. Tragically, he also reported 100 deaths associated with these events, a stark reminder of the perils migrants face. The majority of those who crossed were eventually returned to Morocco.

The incident highlighted the precarious nature of Spain's borders with Morocco and the broader geopolitical implications for the European Union. Spain's relationship with Rabat, often strained, is fundamental to managing migration flows into Europe, a dynamic frequently leveraged by Morocco to secure concessions from Madrid and Brussels. The EU's reliance on client regimes like Morocco for border control frequently comes at the cost of migrant welfare, with human rights organisations consistently documenting abuses at these externalised frontiers.