Moroccans blocked in Ceuta due to the covid-19 crisis can breathe a sigh of relief. Repatriation will begin this Friday, following an agreement between the Moroccan and Spanish governments.
The repatriation of Moroccans stranded in Ceuta and Melilla due to the closure of borders, decided jointly between Morocco and Spain, is suffering from a disagreement over the number of eligible candidates. As a result, the operation has been suspended.
On Sunday morning, May 8, the Moroccan government sent 8 buses to Ceuta to repatriate the 350 Moroccans stranded in the Spanish enclave. A surprise decision by the authorities of the city, however, put an end to the operation.
The kamikaze driver, arrested for having forced, on August 13, the control of the "Tarajal" border and tried to enter Ceuta from Morocco, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
The shipping companies Armas Trasmediterránea and Baleària are experiencing serious difficulties on the two maritime lines with Melilla and Morocco from the port of Malaga. The implementation of the state of emergency is at the root of this situation.
Due to the closure of all Moroccan borders due to covid-19, around 350 Moroccans have remained stranded in Ceuta and Melilla. They live in precarious and difficult conditions.
Maritime companies operating in the Strait of Gibraltar are severely affected by the consequences of covid-19. Passenger traffic could resume in June, not before.
The Popular Parliamentary Group (PP) has proposed to set up an inter-ministerial commission that will be responsible for taking rather strong measures to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of Ceuta and Melilla in the face of pressure from Morocco.
Placed in an immigrant reception center in Ceuta , a Moroccan national was sentenced to 8 months in prison with probation, plus a fine of 6 euros per day for 6 months, for verbally and physically assaulting a security guard and making threats against a Red Cross medical auxiliary.
The Spanish police have announced that they have thwarted the escape of 14 Moroccan citizens from the city of Ceuta to the Moroccan coast, since the start of the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic and the implementation of the state of health emergency in Spain on March 13.
In the hope of finding the atmosphere of Ramadan with their families in Morocco, a group of young people, stranded in Ceuta since the borders were closed, tried to brave the state of emergency by swimming to the city of Fnideq.
In total, 500 Moroccan minors have illegally entered Ceuta, or fifty each month since last summer.