Tensions Escalate: 20 Arrested in Ceuta as Moroccan and Algerian Migrants Clash Over Border Access

8 March 2019 – bySaid@Bladi · 1 min read

At least twenty arrests were made yesterday by the police in Ceuta following new clashes between Moroccan and Algerian nationals. The origin was a simple "territorial control".

According to the local press, including El Faro de Ceuta, these fights result from the desire of each community to have the best place to leave more easily for the peninsula. The dozens of police officers and Civil Guard agents were unable to calm the spirits in the face of dozens of Moroccans on one side and dozens of Algerians on the other.

"This is one of the most serious episodes since the clashes and fights between the two communities began a few weeks ago," writes the newspaper, which specifies that the police finally arrested 18 Moroccans (all adults) before launching the procedure for their expulsion to Morocco.

Despite the return to a semblance of calm later in the evening, the police fear new outbursts as confided a source to the newspaper, who is concerned about the lack of resources available to the agents and especially in terms of protective equipment against the projectiles thrown by the two camps. "The situation is untenable and shameful," a police officer who fears "a serious episode" is outraged.