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.
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.