After crossing the border on Thursday, thousands of refugees could be seen queuing at the Ceuta border in Spain.
Earlier this week, security forces struggled to curb an unprecedented southeast inflow of migrants from Marocco, which saw over 8,000 people crossing the border.
Spain said it was able to deport some 6,000 people back to Morocco on Thursday.
The majority of people who joined Ceuta were young men and adolescents who said they would do anything to avoid unemployment, poverty, and hunger in Morocco.
Since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, living conditions in the North African nation have been badly affected.
“Charge”
When the Guardia Civil regains border control, tensions between Spain and Morocco are still heavy.
Madrid provides medical care to the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, which contests the authority of Morocco over the country’s southern province and clashes with security forces.
It was clear to analysts that Morocco was blind to the people who entered Ceuta to exert diplomatic pressure on Spain to recognize its sovereignty over Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony mainly controlled by Morocco.
On Thursday, Spain accused Morocco of “blackmail” for permitting migrants to enter its territory.
Spain has received support from top European officials, with Vice-President for the European Commission Margaritis Schinas warning that, in a covert allusion to Morocco, Europe is ‘not allowed to be bullied by anyone on the subject of immigration.’
Rabat replied in the form that “Marocco is a sovereign nation” and “is not Europe’s policeman” was a flourishing angry dispatch from the official MAP news agency.
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