Morocco blames Ceuta migrant rush on 'misleading information' on social media
Morocco on Sunday said 11 people died trying to reach Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta this week as the country's interior ministry blamed the sudden surge on the "spread of misleading information" on social media. Morocco’s figure is significantly lower than the death toll issued by Spain, which says at least 72 people died.
Morocco's Interior Ministry has attributed a recent surge of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta to the spread of misleading information on social media. According to Morocco, 11 people died during the attempt to cross into Ceuta, while Spain reported a significantly higher death toll of at least 72 people.
The mass crossing, which involved an estimated 60,000 people, mostly by swimming, prompted alarm across the European Union. Most of those who crossed have since returned to Morocco, with Spain reporting that over 48,000 people had returned within 48 hours.
In response to the surge, Spanish authorities have installed a 500-metre floating barrier off its border with Morocco. The European Union has also taken steps, with 22 member states writing a letter asking for coordinated action to protect external borders.
Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, Euronews, MyJoyOnline Ghana, Le Monde English, ABC News AU — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Morocco blames Ceuta migrant rush on misinformation and human trafficking networks thenationalnews.com
- Morocco blames social media, human traffickers for Spain migrant rush abc.net.au
- Morocco reports 11 Ceuta deaths, sharply conflicting Spanish figures euronews.com
- Morocco blames Ceuta border surge on misleading info spread online cbsnews.com
- Migration wave from Morocco to Spain signals beginning of much larger crisis, expert warns jpost.com
