Three migrants die in surge of attempts to cross Ceuta border
At least 90 people died as more than 70,000 Moroccans and others tried to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in late July, with three identified victims highlighted by their personal circumstances.
More than 70,000 people swam or climbed over a breakwater in an effort to reach Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the North African coast, in the last week of July. Official figures record at least 90 deaths, though rights groups say the toll is higher. The surge was driven by social-media rumors of an open border, poverty and limited job prospects, authorities said.
Among the dead were Ayoub Akbili, 31, a physics graduate from Tangier who worked in a car-parts factory and hoped to earn money for his mother’s surgery; Hamza Haibouri, 28, a second-division soccer player from Kenitra who dreamed of a professional career in Europe; and Abdelouahed Iken, 19, a high-school student from Agadir who had never learned to swim. Akbili’s relative said he paid a driver $129 to approach the border and was later found dead with severe head trauma, classified as an “unnatural” death. Haibouri’s teammate’s fan club confirmed his death after he joined a crowd heading toward the frontier, while Iken’s family learned of his drowning from friends who saw him struggling in the water.
Moroccan and Spanish authorities have tightened security and blamed misinformation and smuggling networks for the episode. Families of the deceased face repatriation costs of about €2,500 per body, and the Moroccan government has not yet agreed to cover these expenses. Ceuta’s forensic director said autopsies on 82 migrants recovered in Spain are complete, and DNA testing has been used to confirm identities, such as Haibouri’s.
The Trade Union Network for Migration in Morocco has called on both governments to assume the cost of returning the bodies to grieving families.