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23h ago

Spain Vows to Return All Migrants After Tens of Thousands Cross Into Ceuta

Madrid says diplomatic work with Morocco will return everyone who entered irregularly to restore control and ease an overwhelmed enclave.

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A 12-year-old unaccompanied minor who crossed into Spain is escorted by a Spanish soldier to the Spain-Morocco border as the child begs not to be sent back to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. The forced deportation of the unaccompanied minor was stopped by a high-ranking official a few meters before the child reached the border after residents and journalists said the migrant was a minor. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
A police officer assists a migrant minor as other migrant minors wait outside the National Police headquarters to begin identification and registration procedures in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta on August 7, 2026, following a mass influx of migrants from Morocco in recent days. Of the 72,000 migrants who reached Ceuta, 70,000 have returned to Morocco, according to official Spanish figures, which have recorded 80 deaths. Morocco's interior ministry has said 11 people died on the Moroccan side of the border, all but one by drowning. Those who remain in Ceuta -- including hundreds of unaccompanied children -- face dire living conditions with little access to food, water, shelter and sanitation. (Photo by Antonio Sempere / AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • A mass movement on July 30–31 saw tens of thousands cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, overwhelming local services and producing disputed reports of dozens to roughly a hundred deaths.
  • Thousands remain in Ceuta today, including official counts of more than a thousand unaccompanied minors, and local authorities say reception capacity is exhausted and the situation is unsustainable.
  • Spain’s foreign minister pledged the return of “every last person” who entered irregularly and said he is coordinating daily with Rabat, while local and national figures sharply disagree on how many people still remain.
  • Police investigations have begun into criminal networks and trafficking, with the Guardia Civil saying it dismantled a ring moving unaccompanied girls, and hospital staff have reported alleged sexual assaults of migrant children that prosecutors are probing.
  • Analysts and Morocco’s human rights council point to viral social‑media messages and private messaging channels that spread false claims of an open border, and the EU and Morocco have tightened border checks and security amid warnings of possible new crossing calls.