Some drowned and others got caught up in crush, official says, as incident prompts criticism by other EU nations
At least 34 people have died trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after more than 40,000 migrants entered the tiny territory from Morocco in a matter of hours, triggering a political crisis for the Madrid government and unleashing a barrage of criticism from other EU countries.
The large influx of people arriving in Ceuta by swimming across from neighbouring Morocco or scaling the high border fence has caught the city of 85,000 off guard and resulted in what one local police association has called a “serious humanitarian crisis”.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who arrived in Ceuta on Friday, described the influx as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” and said he would use all the state resources at his disposal to guarantee the safety of the people of Ceuta.
How do you prepare for that many people in less than 24 hours?
They didn’t just appear out of thin air. The town of Fnideq houses 77.000 people. Having 50.000 people just show up and fill your streets will completely derail public life.
Fnideq is a little over a kilometer from the border, so there would have plenty of signs in the days and weeks leading up to the crossing.
And even if there wasn’t, it should’ve been perfectly clear that the court rulings might trigger a new wave of crossings. Especially in a critical area like Ceuta. EU states are right to call out Spain for its lax attitude to border control.
Okay, what would proper preparation have looked like to you, then?
Again, my main question was how did they not see them coming. I understand if they weren’t prepared for it. If they did see them coming and the news was just exaggerating that they were caught off-guard, then fine.
A man is standing next to you at a bar. The bouncer tells him he can punch you. So he punches you. Could you really have seen that coming or prepared for it?
That’s basically what happened here. They were at the border, the court issued an opinion, so tens of thousands of people immediately started crossing. No one was given notice that this was going to happen. The article says all of this.