49,000 migrants invade Spanish enclave in 24 hours

MT62 the number of people arriving in Ceuta will, of course, be an estimate but they will have returned to Morocco via land so counting would have been much easier. Dead bodies are easy to count sadly.
There is a Spanish garrison there with about 50K troops of various kinds. Although, migrants do swim to Ceuta there is no right of access to Spain from Ceuta despite it being part of the Schengen area so they just get sent back. These poor people who risked their lives were on a fools mission and were being used for political purposes. The questions we should be asking are who benefited not who counted.

Maremia

Has anyone worked out/discovered why so many people just happened to make this journey at the same time?

Social media I heard on one program.
I like to know who counted all these people, especially if they are still finding bodies 😞

Thanks foxie for the recent background , about which I’d been unaware.

It's not the first time this has happened and in the past it's been a signal from the Moroccan government to the Spanish government that they are not happy about something. Basically, Morocco uses migration as a political weapon to threaten Spain despite Morocco getting lots of EU money to keep their borders secure! See Below

"2021 border incident
Main article: 2021 Morocco-Spain border incident

The main precedent for the 2026 crisis was the May 2021 border incident, during which around 8,000 people entered Ceuta from over the border within two days, most by swimming around the breakwaters, and among whom were numerous unaccompanied minors.[29] That episode followed a diplomatic crisis triggered by Spain's hospitalisation of Brahim Ghali, secretary-general of the Polisario Front, who was treated at the Hospital San Pedro in Logroño due to a case of COVID-19, for which Spain had not issued a prior notice to Morocco.[30][31] The initially limited response of Moroccan security forces was widely interpreted in Spain as a form of diplomatic pressure.[13] It exposed the limits of Ceuta's reception capacity and Spain's dependence on Moroccan border cooperation.[29]
2022 Melilla incident
Main article: 2022 Melilla incident

On 24 June 2022, around 2,000 migrants and asylum seekers gathered in the early hours of the day to cross the Melilla border fence:[32][33] 23 migrants and asylum seekers were killed after a crowd crush during a conflict with Moroccan and Spanish security forces.[34]"

Has anyone worked out/discovered why so many people just happened to make this journey at the same time?

I agree foxie48. There is a reason something circulated on social media that prompted this large 70,000 number of adults and children to make the crossing at the same time on the same day.

There is a reason why these individuals left Morocco as they did as a result.

There is a reason why photo images of the incursion were specifically to appear in the media. A reason why no images of 862 plus unaccompanied children, some as young as 10 or 12 years old were not selected to appear in the media

There is a political reason why Russia, Trump, Meloni and Musk responded as they did. There is a reason why the word invasion is emphasised.

There is a political reason why Farage chose to announce Operation Fortress on Monday, directly after this incursion.

The Rest is politics did an excellent podcast on this called "who really benefits from the Ceuta migration crisis" which I thoroughly recommend. The contribution by Gerald Knaus was thought provoking and he made some suggestions about what we should be doing to prevent people risking their lives like this whilst still being a humane society which respects international law. There's far too much in this podcast to mention here but 50-60k people don't suddenly turn up and jump in the sea, not a single person has made it from Morocco, to Ceuta to Spain and most of them have now returned to Morocco apart from nearly 100 people who have died (they are still finding bodies). It's of note that Russia, Trump, Meloni and that vile Musk etc were quick to comment on this "invasion". It smacks of politicians using people to promote their agenda.

I did LemonJam. Accusing somebody of bragging is unacceptable to me.

It is also the case that NGOs and Unicef Spain have reported 10-12 year olds asking for phones so they can call home.

Greyfur was emphasising the Unicef is a reputable organisation. She asked a question why a poster has a problem with what Unicef is reporting. .

I didn't feel the greyfur's post was rude myself.

That was really uncalled for greyfur, there is never a need to be so rude to other posters, whether you disagree with them or not. MartavTaurus was making a serious point.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Anything between a 1- 5km swim/scull/swim journey it appears either aided or unaided. However are you suggesting Susana Hidalgo is lying about the 10 to 12 years olds asking for phones to call home?

Unicef has recorded 862 registered unaccompanied minors so far also- a credible organisation.

According to The Guardian and Al Jazeera, they would have had to swim 5km.
At 10 or 12 years old?

What is the actual distance?

Ceuta from nearby Moroccan towns like Fnideq or Belyounech is much shorter, spanning only 1 to 5 kilometers

MartavTaurus

I'm relieved to hear that children made up as little as 1% of the total number of migrants. I hope those still in Ceuta are receiving good support.
I think I read last week that minors cannot be returned to Morocco without investigating their circumstances? Rightly so.

I hardly saw any young kids, or woman in the footage I saw.
Mainly very young men lying, or walking around.

Casdon

greyfur

The tally includes at least 862 children who have been registered as unaccompanied minors, as Unicef Spain warned that dozens more could still be wandering the city’s streets unprotected

This dispels the " fit young men " myth. Do children "invade"

Poor things.

Do we actually know that they are not fit young men aged between 16 and 18, rather than younger children? It’s quite hard to believe that younger children would swim, unaccompanied, in such numbers.

I wondered that too.
I have a GS who trains with an international sports academy three times a week. His stamina would probably only permit him to swim a mile or so in a pool, so an average 12 year old in dangerous seas wouldn't get very far.
What is the actual distance?

2,00= 2,000

Media reports today- Hundreds of people have gathered in the northern Moroccan town of Fnideq, near the border with Spain’s Ceuta, flashing photos of their missing loved ones to passersby in the hope of tracking them down.

Yesterday interior ministers from across the EU joined an emergency videoconference to grapple with the lingering tensions- the focus on the Moroccan side of the border with Ceuta was on the harrowing death toll.

At least 88 people have died in Ceuta, according to local officials, and another 11 in Morocco, while dozens of others remain missing.

In recent days, NGOs across Spain have voiced concerns that some of those who crossed into Ceuta and who were eligible for international protection were being returned before being allowed to exercise their right to request asylum.

On Tuesday the Spanish government estimated that 2,000 people who had made the crossing were still in Ceuta . The tally includes at least 862 children who have been registered as unaccompanied minors, as Unicef Spain warned that dozens more could still be wandering the city’s streets unprotected.

“Many small children crossed over; we don’t know how many have disappeared,” Susana Hidalgo, a migration expert for the organisation, told the broadcaster TVE. The result was a “tremendously difficult” situation in Ceuta. “There are many families on the other side of the border looking for their sons and daughters,” she said, while in Ceuta “there are 10- and 12-year-old children asking for phones so they can call their mothers and tell them they’re OK.”

I hope the missing 2,00 can all be accounted for eventually and they are alive and well.

greyfur

*The tally includes at least 862 children who have been registered as unaccompanied minors, as Unicef Spain warned that dozens more could still be wandering the city’s streets unprotected*

This dispels the " fit young men " myth. Do children "invade"

Poor things.

Do we actually know that they are not fit young men aged between 16 and 18, rather than younger children? It’s quite hard to believe that younger children would swim, unaccompanied, in such numbers.

I'm relieved to hear that children made up as little as 1% of the total number of migrants. I hope those still in Ceuta are receiving good support.
I think I read last week that minors cannot be returned to Morocco without investigating their circumstances? Rightly so.

The tally includes at least 862 children who have been registered as unaccompanied minors, as Unicef Spain warned that dozens more could still be wandering the city’s streets unprotected

This dispels the " fit young men " myth. Do children "invade"

Poor things.

True. Ridiculous situation though it is.

greyfur

Oreo

If we had a better stronger Navy the Russians wouldn’t be playing these games with us.
The UK only has itself to blame.

So the UK should beef up its' armed forces to repell the Russians?

That'll work.

We certainly do need to beef up our Navy and other armed forces and spend much more on defence…the whole of Europe does and they know it.

petra

Iam64

Successive governments sought to save on defence with the result we now need to invest
Short term savings in public services always cause poor services needing investment

Sad to say that successive governments from Suez onwards have been cut down on defence.
It was always in the grand plan drawn up by the US.
In our defence we weren’t the only suckers, Europe believed it would forever more be protected.

Hmm...

Europe did believe, based on the experience of two European initiated World Wars, that the US was a reliable ally.

I'm not utterly convinced that the US had a 'grand plan'. It smacks somewhat of conspiracy theory. I tend to believe more in the cock up theory of history...

Iam64

Successive governments sought to save on defence with the result we now need to invest
Short term savings in public services always cause poor services needing investment

Sad to say that successive governments from Suez onwards have been cut down on defence.
It was always in the grand plan drawn up by the US.
In our defence we weren’t the only suckers, Europe believed it would forever more be protected.