Spain says the crisis in its tiny exclave Ceuta is under control. What happens next? | DW News

You've probably heard how tens of thousands of people surged into the tiny Spanish territory Ceuta in northern Morocco this week.Spain has declared the crisis effectively over but What's left in the aftermath and what happens to the people who crossed?Our correspondent is there.Stick around.He'll answer those questions in just a moment.But first, I want to bring you up to speed very quickly on what actually happened.

Days ago, migrants stormed the border fence crossing from Morocco into Ceuta, while others swam around barriers.Most of the migrants were young men, but there were also families, women and children, about the equivalent of 70 per cent of Ceuta's population.population.Dozens also died trying to make the cross.Spain sent its military to bring the border under control and since then it says most people have returned to Morocco voluntarily.And just a reminder of where this is.

Ceuta is a Spanish territory on Morocco's northern coast, separated from mainland Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.And for a long time, migrants have attempted to use it as a gateway to Europe.Correspondent Jan -Philip Scholz has been telling me what it's like there today.

clashes between police, military, and migrants, also between locals and some migrants this morning.And of course, more than 60 ,000 people came.So even if it's true that 80, 90 % have left, we are still talking about thousands of people in this small city that are still on the streets, sleeping on the beach, as you can see behind me, and complaining that they haven't had food or water for days.So there's a high level of frustration as well on the side.of the local residents as on the side of the migrants here.

Jan -Philip, as you've just said and as we understand from Spain, most of those who crossed have now returned to Morocco, Spain says voluntarily.But as you say, not everyone's gone back and I want to play a soundbite from a young man that you spoke to today and then we'll come back to you.

I want to food.I have four day.I don't want food, nothing, nothing.Just drink the water and not the food.Not the food.I want just food and nothing.

But central is not.You don't want to go back to Morocco?I don't want to go back to Morocco because I don't have nothing in Morocco.I don't have nothing in Morocco.Why I want to?

Look, look, look.

Jan Filip, a couple of things there.We just heard the young man say how hungry he was and then we saw what looked like to be someone from the army run up to another person and possibly apprehend them.Could you just tell us what happened there?

It is this situation here at the moment that I've described before, the clashes, the frequent clashes between authorities and migrants, because not everybody is willing to go back voluntarily.Of course, a lot of people have gone back and I think you can also safely say that a lot of them have gone voluntarily or simply because they've been so exhausted, so hungry that they haven't seen any other chance.We are also talking about temperatures of above 30 degrees here, so very difficult to stay outside.24 hours and have no food nor water.But there is a smaller group of migrants that don't want to go back, and the authorities here have been reacting increasingly robust.They are pushing the people away from the beaches or from overwhelmed reception centers that cannot take any more people So they are pushing them and they are pushing them towards the border to Morocco.

So I would say a few thousand people are still around and now the authorities are getting, I would say, more and more desperate to find ways how to make them cross the border again into Moroccan territory.

And just to be clear, you've described this robust response and also how people are really very hungry and thirsty.They're not being given food and water?

No, they have not been given food and water.I've hardly seen any humanitarian organisations around.Also, no state institutions that provide such things.I've heard a few migrants saying, that they have received some water now, or they're using the showers here at the beach, there are some reception centers.And the migrants in these reception centers, they receive water and food and a place to sleep.But of course, with these sheer numbers that we've been seeing over the past days, it is impossible to accommodate all of these migrants.

in in these shelters so the ones and this is the absolute majority the ones that have to sleep on the streets they don't they basically don't get any kind of service.

Jan -Philip, tens of thousands of people have gone back across to Morocco, as you've been saying.Spain says that was voluntarily, that people have voluntarily gone back.I'm just wondering if you can help us interpret that word in light of what you've just been telling us about this robust response from the authorities.Why did these people go back?

I would say that not everybody is going back voluntarily.The majority does, because they're desperate, but as I mentioned before, there are some that do not want to go back, and now the authorities are pushing harder and harder, also using some very robust methods, I would say, to make them go towards the border, and let's say they definitely put a lot of pressure on them so that they can, that they go then the last steps across the border into Moroccan territory.Right.

And Jan -Philip, as I understand too, dozens of people died in the attempt.As I understand, Jan -Philip is just being interrupted there by some people.That's fine, Jan -Philip, not a problem.I was just asking you about the dozens of people who died in the attempt to cross over.Can you tell us how these people died exactly?

Most of the people died because they didn't have any strength left and they were not good swimmers, so they died from what I callbeen hearing they died in in the water uh i we don't have yet a lot of information about these dozens of people that have died but i can tell you i've seen a lot of extremely exhausted people here and also wounded people, an overwhelmed health system.It's also, of course, the health system here has very limited resources to treat wounded people or completely exhausted people, but you can still hear basically every five minutes the sirens of ambulances.

Right.And as you describe this very stretched health system, I'm interested in what the people that live in Soweto have been saying.

There is a mix of fear and anger.There has been really a lot of fear.Most people did not want to come out of their houses yesterday and most people still stay inside today.And also All the shops have been closed.It was very difficult even for us to get just a few small bottles of water.I spoke to one lady at a petrol station because I thought at least maybe at a petrol station we could maybe still get some water and some snacks.

But this lady said she also had to close the shop of the petrol station.because she has been overwhelmed there.So she called her boss and told him that she would not open anymore for the rest of the day.And from what I've heard, it's also not open today.Also because people are really fearful also about possible looting, about possible violence.I also have to stress this.

I have not seen a lot of these incidences on the sides of the migrants.There have beenbeen, of course, some clashes, some violence, but I have not seen any, or I have not even gotten any reports of serious crimes that have been committed.

And Jan -Philip, there are also a lot of, I guess, theories and speculation as to why this happened, including that traffic networks exploited a recent migration ruling from the Spanish Supreme Court.Also, videos are circulating that allegedly show people being taken to the border by trucks.Can you tell us what you know?

I think the theory that it has a lot to do with the recent ruling of the Supreme Court.It's a major factor.I've spoken to a lot of migrants and they said that this news has spread very quickly on social media, also by word of mouth.So just to summarize basically what the Supreme Court said, the Supreme Court said that if people enter the territory by water, swimming, no, as they call it in Spanish, no direct pushbacks are legal, but their case has to be processed here in Utah, so a lot of people got this information.And as you said, a lot of smuggling networks have also exploited this information.And I think this is the major reason why we have seen so many people coming in such a short time span.

Also, there are other theories.I don't think that they are very plausible.One theory also is that there is a master plan, so to say, behind it from the Moroccan side.I was here 2021.There was a very tense situation between Spain and Morocco for political reasons.This was definitely when Morocco also used the migrants kind of as a tool to put pressure on Spain.

This time around, the diplomatic relations are much better.I wouldn't rule this possibility out completely.It has also contributed to the situation.because Spain has also now again better diplomatic relations with Algeria, which is Morocco's biggest enemy.And I think also Morocco sometimes wants to show that how much Spain and Europe in general is dependent on their border control when it comes to the topic of migration.So a lot of factors have contributed maybe The border guards, they are also at the moment, of course, a lot of them, it's August, they are on vacation, so maybe they did not do the job as, let's say, robust as they could have on the Moroccan side.

But I think still the main reason is internal here in Spain, and this is this Supreme Court ruling.

Yeah, thanks a lot for clearing that up, Jan -Philip.That's very helpful.Just to remind the people watching, Ceuta is a Spanish territory on Morocco's northern coast.Jan -Philip, a lot of our users are asking why Ceuta is part of Spain in the first place.Can you clear that up for them?

Well, it's been in European hands for centuries.The Spanish side claims that it has also been internationally acknowledged and that they have had control here long before a modern Moroccan state was created.Of course, when you look at the geography, it is part of Africa.And this is why the Moroccan side also says that it is for them basically occupied land.It's still part of colonialism.And they claim that it's not Spanish territory for a long time.

There has been kind of a status quo that has worked more or less well for both sides.There has been also a lot of economic exchange between both sides.People cross the border to come to Ceuta to work.So there have been very close relations, but the background is that the territory is actually disputed.

And Jan -Philipp, you're on Ceuta.From where you're standing, what happens next in this situation?

Nobody really knows.happens next.I think a heated political debate has started here in Spain.Prime Minister Sanchez from the Socialists, he has been for a long time under attack because critics say that he has too much of a laissez -faire approach regarding migration hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants are in the process of being legalized in Spain.So critics say this is kind of a pull factor, this is something that is attracting more people to come to Spain.So there is a very

very heated political debate between the conservatives and the socialists.And, of course, also far -right groups are using the situation for their own political goals.Regarding now the humanitarian situation here on the ground, I think it's very difficult to predict the coming days.There will be probably more people returning to the Moroccan side, but I think that we will still see authorities struggling with the situation in the coming days.

Thanks a lot for that, Jan -Philip.We've been speaking to DW's Jan -Philip Scholz in Soweto.Thank you so much for that.We'd love to hear from you now and your thoughts on what's been happening in Ceuta and the response, both by the authorities there as well as the wider political fallout, which we are covering in other videos on our channel as well.Please do subscribe to that and also hit like on this video.I'm Jared Reid in Berlin.

Thanks for watching.