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Sánchez Rejects Any Moroccan Responsibility for Ceuta Migration Crisis
🇵🇦 Panama /Culture & Society

Sánchez Rejects Any Moroccan Responsibility for Ceuta Migration Crisis

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Ongoing story
  • Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said security and intelligence agencies had found no indication of Moroccan involvement in the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta.
  • He said about 5,000 migrants, including roughly 1,200 unaccompanied minors, remained in Ceuta, while local authorities put the figure at 10,000.
  • Sánchez blamed distorted information and disinformation networks for worsening the crisis and promised Ceuta an additional €168 million in assistance.

Pedro Sánchez rejected allegations that Moroccan authorities played any role in the mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta, while warning that disinformation had helped fuel the crisis.

In an interview with Cadena SER, Spain’s prime minister said neither the country’s security forces nor the National Intelligence Centre had uncovered evidence pointing to Moroccan participation. He said the origins of the crisis were still under investigation.

There is no information from either the State security forces or the National Intelligence Centre that raises any doubt, or rather any doubt about the participation in one way or another of the Moroccan authorities.

— Pedro SánchezThe Spanish prime minister denied evidence of Moroccan involvement in the migration crisis.

About 70,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave a month earlier, either on foot or by swimming. Most returned almost immediately. Sánchez said around 5,000 remained in Ceuta, including about 1,200 unaccompanied minors, although local authorities estimated that 10,000 migrants were still in the small autonomous city.

We are still investigating it.

— Pedro SánchezSánchez described the origins of the crisis as unresolved.

Sánchez said a Supreme Court ruling from July 8 had been misrepresented and then spread through social media by false reports, disinformation and criminal human-trafficking organizations. The claims said migrants who reached Ceuta by swimming could not be expelled to Morocco, which he said was false.

He also described Ceuta and neighboring Melilla as having exceptionally complex borders because of the large gap in opportunities and per-capita income across the frontier. Sánchez alleged that social-media networks linked to Russia and Israel, along with what he called an international far-right movement, amplified the misinformation after July 30 and 31. He said cooperation with Morocco remained necessary and promised Ceuta an additional €168 million to address the crisis and its economic consequences.

This crisis can only be resolved through cooperation, not through a lack of trust in Morocco.

— Pedro SánchezHe argued that coordination with Moroccan authorities was necessary.
About this summary

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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