Morocco's Interior Ministry has linked the recent migrant surge to Spain to disinformation spread online, as well as to the activities of human trafficking networks and a misinterpretation of Spanish court rulings, according to infohub.kz.
The ministry noted that a combination of these factors created a false impression that entering Europe had become easier and would not entail serious legal consequences. As a result, an attempt by 40,000 people to reach Ceuta was recorded, along with about 1,135 people heading for Melilla. All migrants who entered Melilla were returned, the ministry stressed.
Earlier reports said that on the night of July 30-31, thousands of Moroccan migrants breached the border of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, forcing Spanish authorities to mobilize the army. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country is ready to take emergency measures to protect borders and citizens' safety, including temporarily reinstating border controls on the border with Spain.
Spanish authorities also noted that by Friday evening, most migrants had left Ceuta and returned to Morocco. Initially, it was reported that at least 57 migrants died in a stampede while trying to reach land over a wall topped with a border fence, with their bodies recovered from the water. Earlier, information emerged that the death toll among those attempting to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco had reached 90.