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Rabat — Around 200 people attempted to reach Spanish shores by swimming across the waters to the enclave of Ceuta over the weekend.
The group included mostly young men, but also women, children, and people with disabilities who risked their lives trying to reach the Spanish enclave from Moroccan territory.
Spanish newspaper El Faro de Ceuta reported that the attempts continued intermittently from nightfall until early in the morning.
Reports indicated that Spanish Coast Guard units and the Royal Moroccan Navy had to intervene urgently to rescue dozens of migrants who traded their lives for a dream and hope to reach the other side in search for better life conditions.
Authorities intercepted a large number of migrants at sea in this operation before returning them to Moroccan shores.
Officials then took them to nearby checkpoints for identification and processing.
The dangerous crossing attempts is yet another instance of the desperate measures people take to reach European territory, despite the life-threatening conditions they face in the Mediterranean waters.
Moroccan authorities have launched a comprehensive investigation aimed at dismantling this irregular immigration network.
The operations often end in human tragedies, prevented only by last-minute interventions from the Moroccan and Spanish navies, which have been coordinating to tackle the phenomenon on the border.
The incident reflects ongoing migration pressures at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, where people regularly attempt dangerous crossings in hopes of reaching European soil.
The North African country has been actively engaged in combating irregular migration. Moroccan authorities prevented 78,685 irregular migration attempts and dismantled 332 human trafficking networks during 2024.
Spain allocated €2.5 million to Morocco for border surveillance equipment and vehicles to face the flooding of irregular migrants who attempt to cross borders to the Ceuta and Melilla enclaves.
