Morocco boosts border controls near Ceuta, Melilla amid mass access calls

Moroccan authorities have significantly bolstered security measures in areas bordering the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. This intensified deployment aims to intercept individuals attempting irregular migration, particularly in response to online calls for a large-scale crossing into the Spanish cities scheduled for August 15.

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When they detect candidates for migration, they intercept them and return them by bus to their cities of origin.

Despite the date being several days away, Moroccan security services are actively intercepting potential migrants on roads leading to the border areas. These individuals are then reportedly returned to their cities of origin. Journalists specializing in migration issues confirm increased checkpoints and identity checks by police and gendarmerie in towns near Ceuta and Melilla. Similar security reinforcements are observed in the province of Nador, adjacent to Melilla.

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the transfer of migrants from the province of Nador is a practice that has been occurring since before the recent events.

Human rights organizations have raised concerns about the practices, noting that intercepted individuals are sometimes held in "illegal places" before being transferred. These transfers can extend far beyond their cities of origin, reportedly with the intention of exhausting the migrants. This occurs even as calls for mass entry into Ceuta and Melilla continue to circulate on Moroccan social media.

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illegal places where the intercepted youths are concentrated before being transferred out of the province

In response to the situation, Spain's Embassy in Morocco has reiterated that irregular entry into Ceuta or Melilla does not grant the right to remain in Spain or proceed to other European countries, warning that any information to the contrary is false.

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the forced transfers to cities like Casablanca and Beni Melal do not end in the center of the cities of origin, but several kilometers away, with the objective of exhausting them.