World
The Ceuta crisis remains on the sidelines of the Moroccan campaign amid sovereignty slogans and humanitarian complaints
In Morocco, tensions over Ceuta and Melilla coexist with an electoral debate that has been pushing the territorial dispute aside. At the same time, organizations and activists are focusing on the situation of migrants and the anguish of their families.
The Ceuta crisis is running through Morocco’s election campaign amid expressions of nationalism and growing concern over the situation of migrants who remain in the Spanish city. According to El País, the claim over Ceuta and Melilla lost centrality as the legislative elections drew near, while the humanitarian consequences of the migration episode were left practically out of the political debate.
In that context, various leaders and party groups called in the weeks leading up to the campaign for Moroccan sovereignty over both cities. According to Efe, the secretary general of the Party of Progress and Socialism, Nabil Benabdellá, described them as “occupied Moroccan cities.” He also questioned the destruction of a Moroccan flag during a protest outside the Congress of Deputies in Madrid.
El País also noted that the nationalist climate even spilled over into soccer: fans of Magreb Asociación Deportiva, from Fez, displayed a banner in Spanish during an international match calling for sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. However, the statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs that responded to the accusations over the crisis made no explicit reference to the two cities.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations and Moroccan official bodies denounced the treatment received by migrants. The Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights warned about a discourse of hate and xenophobia in Spain against Moroccan citizens, and led a small protest outside the Spanish Embassy in Rabat. In a report, it accused the Spanish authorities of having ignored attacks against migrants in Ceuta and of having given cover to extremist groups and radical leaders.
The National Human Rights Council of Morocco also accused Spanish security forces of mistreatment and of providing insufficient care to those who arrived en masse in Ceuta. El País recalled that the body had already blamed the Spanish police for at least 23 deaths in the mass crossing of the Melilla fence in 2022.
At the same time, uncertainty persists for many Moroccan families searching for missing sons who were trying to reach Ceuta by swimming. According to El País, at least 200 complaints were filed with the Civil Guard in an effort to determine the whereabouts of young people with whom contact was lost. Added to that is the claim by relatives of victims already identified and buried in the Spanish city, after Rabat authorities refused to receive the bodies at the border.
The head of the migration area of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, Jadiya Inani, questioned the absence from the campaign of violations of migrants’ rights. According to her testimony, most of those who reached Ceuta remain in very precarious conditions, without stable shelter, and almost none want to return to Morocco for fear of police questioning and court cases.
The image Moroccans receive of what is happening in Ceuta was also portrayed by the weekly Tel Quel, as cited by El País. The publication described improvised camps, accumulated trash, untreated wounds and testimonies from migrants who compare the city to a “giant prison” or an “open-air waiting room” in an attempt to reach Europe.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
