Most migrants from Morocco voluntarily left the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. In total, more than 50,000 people reached Spain by swimming, according to BBC. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
As the migrants themselves told the publication, they had heard rumors that the border with Ceuta had supposedly opened, so they decided to take the risk. It is also assumed that the artificially fueled rumors had a basis - a decision by Spain's Supreme Court. It prohibits the enclave authorities from automatically returning to Morocco those who entered Ceuta and Melilla (another Spanish enclave on the coast of Africa) by sea. Apparently, criminal groups took advantage of this by spreading rumors about the opening of the border.
There had been attempts to break into the enclave before, but this one was the most massive. The Spanish authorities called it an invasion and deployed the army to the enclave. During the riots, 57 people died.
Italy is considering the possibility of temporarily establishing border controls on the border with Spain. This option is also supported by the Finnish Foreign Ministry.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that due to the border breach, Morocco and Spain concluded an emergency agreement on the deportation of all illegally entered persons.