The Spanish territory of Ceuta in northern Africa is in chaos as thousands of illegal immigrants linger on its shores and the government is reneging on its promise not to transfer migrants to the continent.
Thousands of migrants are defying Spanish orders to return to Morocco and are setting up makeshift shelters across Ceuta. The Government of Ceuta issued a statement on Friday saying that it will attempt to remove the hundreds of squatters living on El Trampolin beach. It will be the second attempt at such a clean-up, as a previous effort on Thursday saw the migrants immediately return to their encampments.
Meanwhile, a cottage industry has emerged for attempting to transport these migrants from Ceuta to mainland Spain, where they will be within the borders of the European Union’s Schengen Area.
More than 70,000 immigrants stormed the Ceuta border and swam across surrounding bodies of water to illicitly enter the Spanish enclave. Up to 10,000 migrants are estimated to remain in Ceuta despite almost a month of operations by Spanish authorities to regularize the situation.
Now, Spain is focusing on keeping the situation contained as crime syndicates offer transport for migrants stuck in Ceuta onto the European continent.
Five individuals have been arrested on human trafficking charges related to plans for moving Ceuta-based migrants to southern Spain, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.
“In one of the actions, four people were arrested, two in Ceuta and two others in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), who were charged with the crimes of criminal organization and favoring irregular immigration,” the ministry said of the operations. “In the second investigation, a man was arrested as an alleged member of an organization also dedicated to the illegal trafficking of people from Ceuta to the Peninsula, who was sent to provisional prison.”
The ministry claims that trafficking organizations were paid up to $10,500 per person for transport on boats far too small for the number of passengers. They were not outfitted with any safety equipment and did not have enough fuel to complete the voyage.
“The weather conditions, the state of the boat and the absence of safety equipment significantly increased the danger during the crossing,” the ministry said. “The passengers also had to endure the cold caused by wet clothes and the entry of water and waves into the boat.”
Despite promising that migrants would be contained to Ceuta and not allowed to enter the continent, Madrid has already made the decision to accept hundreds of underage migrants to the mainland over concerns of sexual assault by fellow border crossers.
Police report that over a dozen cases of sexual assault have occurred in the territory since the mass surge of illegal Moroccan migrants in late July.
Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz said passage to Spain is being provided to “girls who are on their own” in order to “protect the best interests of the children.” Approximately 2,168 minors have been identified among the migrant crowd in Ceuta.
Spain’s allies in the European Union have voiced outrage for weeks at the possibility of the mass influx of Moroccans to make its way into the Schengen Area and spread across the continent.
Several neighboring countries have taken drastic measures to prevent spillover, such as Italy, which tightened border security with Spain.