Madrid | The Spanish authorities announced that they had expelled 1,500 of the 6,000 migrants on Tuesday who entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta the day before, while 86 migrants entered the neighboring enclave of Melilla.
“Some 6,000 people” entered Ceuta, on the northern coast of Morocco on Monday, and “at this time, we have returned 1,500 of these people and we are in the process of continuing these returns,” said the Spanish Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, on Spanish public television.
He indicated that of this total of 6,000 people, there could be 1,500 minors while specifying that it was “too early” to provide a definitive figure.
The minister defended these referrals, saying they were “in accordance with the law and international treaties and agreements with Morocco”.
Some 400 kilometers east of Ceuta, in Melilla, the other Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast, 86 migrants managed to enter Spanish territory on Tuesday morning from neighboring Morocco.
In total, “more than 300” people from “sub-Saharan Africa” tried to cross the barrier separating Melilla from Morocco on Tuesday at around 4.45 am (2.45 GMT), the Melilla prefecture said in a statement.
More than 200 people were pushed back, but “85 men and a woman managed to get in,” the statement said.
The woman in question required the assistance of the Red Cross, said the prefecture.
“The migrants maintained an aggressive stance and threw stones at the agents”, three of whom had to receive treatment for “minor bruises”, added the prefecture.
The migrants who managed to enter were taken to the Enclave’s Temporary Stay Center (CETI).
Ceuta and Melilla constitute the only land borders of the European Union with Africa and are regularly the scene of attempted forced passages of migrants.
