AFP, Reuters and Europa Press

The newspaper La Jornada
Saturday, September 21, 2024, p. 19

Rabat. More than 150 people appeared before the Moroccan courts for incitement to illegal immigrationafter around 3,000 people tried to illegally enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Sunday, encouraged by messages posted on social networks, said Mustapha Baitas, spokesman for the Moroccan government.

Unfortunately, some young people are incited by strangers on social media.he said at a press conference.

An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of Moroccan and other African migrants climbing hills and trying to break through barbed wire in the Castillejos area north of Rabat on Sunday, despite a tight security presence.

In videos shared on social media, which have not yet been verified, men are seen in a group sitting on the ground, wearing only what appear to be swimming shorts.

The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the dissemination of these images to determine their authenticity.

Local media have recently criticised the government for failing to offer prospects to young Moroccans who want to leave the country.

In Morocco, according to official statistics, one in four young people aged between 15 and 24 is not in the labour market, is not in training and is not in school.

The arrival of migrants in Ceuta, the only land border between the European Union and the African continent along with Melilla, the other Spanish enclave further east, has intensified in recent weeks.

Moroccan authorities prevented more than 11,300 attempts at illegal immigration in August alone, according to the Interior Ministry.

The main access route for migrants to Spain, however, remains the dangerous Atlantic route to the Canary Islands from the coasts of northwest Africa. More than 22,300 migrants arrived in the Spanish archipelago between January 1 and August 15, an increase of 126 percent in one year.