More than two weeks after a record wave of migrants crossed into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, thousands remain there, with asylum claims still unresolved and shelters still overwhelmed.
Spanish authorities had estimated that somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 people stayed on in Ceuta after the initial crossing of roughly 80,000 people at the end of July, once the majority had been sent back to Morocco within days. Most of those who remained were men from sub-Saharan Africa who refused repatriation and set up informal camps along the beach, along with several hundred unaccompanied minors who cannot legally be deported under Spanish law.
On Sunday, a group of the migrants held a sit-in protest calling for asylum, two weeks on from the initial surge, as many continued living on the beaches while officials worked through their cases.
Separately, this week Moroccan authorities blocked a fresh attempt by hundreds more migrants trying to reach Ceuta, a development that has raised further questions about how the original breach was allowed to happen. More than 140 people are believed to have died during that initial crossing.
I wasn’t able to confirm the detail about Iraqi nationals specifically — none of the sources I found mention that. If you can share the article text itself, I can fold that detail in accurately rather than guess at it.
