Tensions are running high in Ceuta: angry residents on Monday vented their frustration over the handling of the migration crisis. Spain’s migration minister, Elma Saiz, who had just left a meeting with Ceuta’s regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, faced the public’s anger. “They are not racists or right-wing extremists, but things cannot go on like this – the migrants have to leave the city,” Tagesschau quoted a resident as saying.
At Playa del Trampolín beach, people have been living in appalling conditions for almost three weeks – around 1,500 according to police, while local aid groups put the number at about 3,500. They have built makeshift shelters from cardboard, plastic sheeting and reeds. Many of the migrants come from sub-Saharan African countries such as Sudan, Mali or Niger and are seeking asylum. A large group of Moroccans is also camped out there.
On Sunday, the migrants turned the beach into a site of protest. Handwritten cardboard signs read: “We don’t want to go back to Morocco!” and “We are human too.” Mohsen Idris Adam Ibrahim, an 18-year-old Sudanese man, described his journey through Chad, Niger, Algeria and Morocco to Ceuta. He said he had been there for more than two weeks. A Moroccan man named Icha Chacir said he earns 300 euros a month in Morocco, 200 of which goes on rent. He had given up hope of change.
Spain’s government insists that all those who entered irregularly should be sent back. But the legal situation is complex: many come from war zones such as Sudan or Palestine and would have a chance of asylum. Minors cannot simply be deported. Migration Minister Saiz announced on Monday that new accommodation would be created: “I would like to announce that several temporary and special humanitarian aid centres are being set up today. This will immediately create 1,500 new places.” Large tents are to be erected at four locations around Ceuta. Many migrants, however, say they would rather go into the woods than move into these shelters.
Source: Tagesschau
