You remember that thing where all those Moslems were flooding into Europe?
Yeah well, that’s ongoing.
It’s hard to keep up with things, I know.
More than 5,000 migrants, about 1,000 of them presumed to be minors, crossed into Spain’s northern African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, in an unprecedented influx that left Spanish officials scrambling to bolster police presence in the tiny territory.
Ceuta, along with nearby Melilla, has long been a magnet for African migrants hoping to cross into Europe, despite being heavily protected and fortified with a double fence. The mass crossing into Ceuta comes amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain.
The Spanish government delegation in Ceuta told El País that migrants began crossing into the territory in the early hours of Monday, steadily streaming in from neighbouring Morocco all day. Those making the crossing ranged from young men to mothers cradling babies and entire families. As migrants swam or used inflatable boats to skirt the breakwater that marks the border, at least one migrant was reported to have died in the attempt.
…
The mass crossing comes as relations between Morocco and Spain have been strained over Madrid’s decision to allow Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, to be hospitalised in northern Spain after he contracted Covid-19. The Polisario Front has long fought for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco.
Spanish officials said the independence leader was taken to Spain for “strictly humanitarian reasons”.
Ghali’s arrival in Spain sparked vociferous protest from Rabat, with Morocco’s foreign ministry describing Spain’s move as “inconsistent with the spirit of partnership and good neighbourliness” and warning it would have “consequences”.
On Monday, Mohammed Ben Aisa, head of the Northern Observatory for Human Rights, a nonprofit group that works with migrants in northern Morocco, linked the migrants’ crossing to the diplomatic row. “The information that we have is that the Moroccan authorities reduced the usually heavy militarisation of the coasts, which comes after Morocco’s foreign ministry statement about Spain’s hosting of Brahim Ghali,” Ben Aisa told the Associated Press.
So that’s some kind of esoteric regional event, where the coronavirus hoax has been used to make a political situation that is resulting in thousands of people pouring over the border.
I wonder why when you’re mad at a country, you would send an army of violent adult men into the country?
Can’t think of any connection between those two things.
Ceuta was founded by Cartago, then was Roman, part of the Visigothic Kingdom and Castilian since the Middle Ages. It has never been Moroccan. https://t.co/YNk2on9Zap
— Álvaro ?? ?? (@KomaJabbyt) May 18, 2021
Latest reports are saying it’s actually 6,000.
#UPDATE The EU commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, on Tuesday urged Morocco to "prevent irregular departures" of migrants after some 6,000 entered Spain's Ceuta enclave from the North African country
? Spanish soldiers stand guard after 6,000 migrants entered Ceuta pic.twitter.com/HmXG1Zgge9
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 18, 2021
Those numbers are always low-balled.