Estimated 3,000 to 5,000 migrants remain camped in Ceuta a week after border surge
An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 migrants remain camped on a beach in Ceuta a week after roughly 72,000 crossed from Morocco, Spain's largest surge, per CNN and CBC. The death toll: 72 on the Spanish side, 11 Moroccan. Among those remaining are 862 unaccompanied minors, who cannot be
Spain says an estimated 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the enclave of Ceuta over the past week, the largest such surge the country has recorded, and roughly 70,000 have since returned to Morocco, according to CBC News. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people remain, largely Sub-Saharan African men who set up camp on the beach and have refused to leave. The confirmed death toll from the crossings stands at 72 on the Spanish side and 11 on the Moroccan side, per CNN. Local authorities in Ceuta say the city's migrant processing capacity has been overwhelmed. Spain's government has earmarked 25 million euros to support the roughly 862 unaccompanied migrant minors who remain in Ceuta, since minors have legal protection against deportation. That legal protection is the practical reason this standoff has not simply ended. Spain can return adult migrants to Morocco relatively quickly, which explains how 70,000 of the initial 72,000 arrivals have already left, but it cannot do the same with minors, so the population still in Ceuta is disproportionately made up of people the government has no fast legal path to move. Spain and Morocco reinforced the border fence on Friday, which has halted new mass crossings for now.