Around 150 migrants attempted to storm a section of the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave Melilla, Spanish authorities say. 87 people reportedly succeeded in crossing the border.
The Spanish Constitutional Court, the country's highest court, has announced that it would back fast deportations of migrants who attempt to enter Spain’s north African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla.
In the last few months, Morocco has ramped up arrests and clamped down on migration across its borders to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Now migrants still hoping to cross the border in order to reach the EU prefer to keep themselves hidden.
The Spanish coastguard reported four migrants dead and 16 more missing on Wednesday, November 27, after an attempt to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe failed. The migrants were traveling on a small raft that sank near the Spanish enclave Melilla.
The French NGO SOS Racisme described the southern border of Ceuta and Melilla as racist and selective, keeping migrants without resources out while remaining open to traffickers who can afford to corrupt border police. Security forces' practices violate international human rights agreements, the NGO concludes.