Spanish National Police Begin Operation to Clear Thousands of Illegal Migrants from Ceuta Beach Tent Camp

Hundreds of Spanish National Police officers descended on the North African exclave of Ceuta on Sunday as part of a massive operation to clear the infamous illegal migrant encampment from the city’s main beach months after the invasion from Morocco.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, around 350 police officers from across Spain began the arduous and potentially dangerous task of dismantling the tent city erected on Trampolín beach following the storming of the border by over 70,000 illegals from neighbouring Morocco in July.

While many were returned immediately, around 10,000 remained in the city, including approximately 3,000 mostly North African military-age males in the beach encampment.

The operation on Sunday also saw around fifty National Police vans, three riot police tanks, and ten armoured military vehicles deployed to the beach to create a cordon and establish checkpoints throughout the city of Ceuta. Additionally, three Civil Guard boats were used to prevent migrants from swimming away from the beach, El País reported.

Although there were initial attempts to stir a resistance, with chants of “no to Morocco!” breaking out, riot police were immediately deployed to the group of instigators and shut down the chant.

Hundreds of migrants were seen being loaded onto buses — two belonging to the National Police and one belonging to the Ceuta municipal government — and brought to the El Tarajal border crossing with Morocco, where the illegals were told they could either “voluntarily” return to Morocco or provide their information to the Temporary Foreigners’ Assistance Center (CATE) to be rehoused in government facilities.

Reportedly, most chose the voluntary option because they did not want to provide their information to Spanish border authorities, which would have triggered the deportation process regardless and would register their information with Madrid going forward, potentially limiting their ability to claim asylum in the future.

However, those who claimed to be minors were transported to government accommodation, with those under the age likely to receive refugee status and the ability to remain within Spanish territory.

Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez, the Minister for Territorial Policy, said during a visit to Ceuta on Wednesday that the government would clear the beach of illegal migrants by October 15th.

Though the government was able to clear the nearby Benítez beach of a smaller migrant camp of around 250 last month within two days, the operation on Trampolín is likely to be more complicated, given the number of migrants and precautions needed to prevent the spread of disease.

Indeed, it was announced on Friday that the waters surrounding the beach were “contaminated” with E. coli, representing a health risk to those who come in contact with the water. The Ministry of Health said that samples taken during the last week of September found “very high concentrations of intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli, clearly exceeding the established limits for coastal waters regarding bathing water quality management.”

This is believed to be as a result of the thousands of illegals using the water to bathe and wash their food dishes and utensils. There have previously been reports of migrants being infected with diseases such as tuberculosis, while health officials warned of infections breaking out as a result of migrants defecating on the beach.

While it appears that the Spanish government is intent on finally clearing the beach, thousands of migrants are likely to remain in the city, including thousands of alleged minors. Madrid’s Ministry of Migration was reported last month to be planning to house and feed around 6,000 migrants until early next year while their asylum claims are processed.

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