Rabat – Morocco’s border control authorities stopped on Friday around 150 migrants attempting to cross into Spain through the country’s enclave Ceuta.
In the wake of the operation, border control authorities arrested 70 undocumented migrants, according to a statement from Morocco’s interior ministry quoted in converging reports.
The statement indicates that 14 members of the Moroccan security forces and six migrants sustained injuries during the operation, the statement indicates, adding that both the injured officers and migrants have been transferred to the hospital to receive medical attention.
“Some migrants were armed with sticks, stones, and bladed weapons,” the minister was quoted as saying.
Spanish authorities in Ceuta said that no migrants managed to cross to Spanish soil, adding that Spanish police forces were deployed near the border with Morocco but didn’t have to intervene.
A report from Zawya indicates that the Morocco-Ceuta border was temporarily closed to vehicles, but it was opened later on Friday.
This incident comes less than a year after headline-grabbing clashes between sub-Saharan migrants and Moroccan police in June 2022, when 23 migrants died in a mass attempt to storm the border around Melilla.
Over the first seven months of 2022, Morocco thwarted more than 40,000 irregular migration attempts to Europe amid an 11% annual spike in attempts.
The operations resulted in the arrest of 7,000 migrants and the dismantling of 124 trafficking networks.
Morocco has a long-standing border control agreement with the European Union. In August 2022, the EU pledged €500 million in financial aid to assist the North African country with migration management efforts.
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