[Anchor]
At the end of last month, 60,000 Moroccans swam to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern tip of Africa. Dozens of people died in the process, and the Spanish government ultimately mobilized troops to send them back.
Videomug reporter So Hwan-uk explains why so many people flocked there.
[Reporter]
This is Ceuta, a Spanish territory bordering Morocco on the northern tip of Africa.
Ceuta is Spanish land located on the African continent.
This means people can easily cross from the African continent into Europe.
Starting from July 30, Moroccans suddenly began swimming across the sea toward Ceuta.
It is a short sea route of just over 100 meters, but the process resulted in a tragedy with at least dozens drowning or being crushed to death.
Immediately after the incident, the Spanish government deployed troops.
[Spanish Soldier: Please go back. You will face no disadvantages in either Spain or Morocco.]
Broadcasts urging migrants who arrived on the beach to return were played in Arabic through loudspeakers.
Police urged voluntary return while also using physical force to push migrants out of the border.
[Moroccan Migrant Attempting to Enter Spain: I want to find a job in Spain. I can drive trucks or buses, and I can do anything from being a barber, doing tattoos, painting, to a mechanic. No problem. I have a diploma, I have everything. Absolutely no problem.]
In the end, within less than 48 hours, most of them returned to Morocco.
The Spanish government announced this as a "voluntary return," but testimonies continued at the scene that it was effectively a forced deportation.
Furthermore, unaccompanied minors who cannot be legally deported immediately are still stranded in Ceuta.
[Please, sir, I will even kiss your head.]
To prevent similar incidents, the Spanish government has begun installing a 500-meter floating barrier at sea.
Then why did so many people flock to the border all at once?
The Spanish government pointed to "fake news" spread on social media as the cause.
Smuggling rings allegedly spread fake news claiming that "Spain's borders are open."
On the other hand, Morocco's Ministry of the Interior shifted part of the blame for the incident onto the Spanish side.
They claim that migrants misunderstood a ruling issued by Spain's Supreme Court early last month, causing them to flock in large numbers.
At the time, Spain's Supreme Court issued a decision stating that "the immediate repatriation of migrants who enter Spanish territory by swimming without violating physical facilities such as border barriers is restricted."
Morocco criticized that this decision gave false hope that they could easily enter Europe without legal sanctions.
Meanwhile, some analyses suggest there was "intentional connivance by Morocco."
Ten days before the incident, the Spanish Prime Minister visited Algeria to discuss a natural gas supply contract.
However, Algeria is a country that has been in conflict with Morocco for decades over the issue of "Western Sahara sovereignty."
The argument is that as Spain and Algeria strengthened cooperation, Morocco intentionally relaxed border surveillance, which led to this incident.
Regardless, the European political sphere is in great turmoil due to this incident.
There is strong backlash from European Union member states, who argue that the Schengen Agreement, which guarantees free movement within Europe, could be shaken.
In fact, Italy announced it would close its sea and air borders for a month against Spain, which is relatively lenient toward migrants, and 22 EU member states also called for an urgent video conference on strengthening border controls and expanding the repatriation of illegal migrants.
Starting with this incident, the debate over accepting migrants within the European Union, which had been quiet for a while, is expected to flare up again.
(Reported by So Hwan-uk | Video by Park Seo-yeon | Graphics by Cho Seung-hyun | Assistance by Kim Chae-hyun | Produced by Knowledge Contents IP Team)
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