Moroccan forces detain nearly 300 migrants near Ceuta amid heightened border security
Moroccan authorities arrested 294 sub-Saharan migrants and 61 suspected facilitators as they attempted to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, following a surge of social-media calls for a mass crossing.
Moroccan security forces detained 294 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa on Saturday while they tried to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta by land or sea, state broadcaster Medi 1 TV reported. In the same operation, 61 Moroccan nationals accused of assisting the migrants were also taken into custody.
The arrests came after a wave of social-media posts urged migrants to head for Ceuta, prompting both Moroccan and Spanish authorities to increase patrols and restrict movement toward the border area. The latest crackdown follows a massive crossing two weeks earlier that resulted in at least 90 deaths on both sides of the frontier, according to official counts, with human-rights groups suggesting the toll may be higher.
"More than 20,000 Moroccan security personnel are deployed along the border with Ceuta each day, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars," a senior Moroccan diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Morocco’s interior ministry did not comment on the recent arrests or disclose the exact number of security personnel deployed for the current operation.