Moroccan security forces on Saturday dispersed a group of hundreds of migrants who had gathered near the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, thwarting what appeared to be a fresh attempt to cross the border. The operation took place in a mountainous area southwest of Ceuta, near the town of Fnideq, known in Spanish as Castillejos, according to Moroccan security sources cited by the EFE news agency.
Moroccan media reported that 294 people were arrested, 46 of them Moroccan nationals and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa. The group had been hiding on the outskirts of Fnideq, and officers moved in to break it up before any approach to the border fence was made. The migrants remain in the area, and no new attempt has been reported so far.
The incident comes just two weeks after a mass crossing of around 72,000 people, mostly Moroccan men, surged into Ceuta, a Spanish territory on the North African coast. The vast majority have since been returned to Morocco, but the episode left deep scars. According to humanitarian organisations, at least 141 people died during the 30 and 31 July attempt, one of the deadliest ever recorded on the Morocco-Spain border.
Heavy police presence and checkpoints
Fnideq's town centre woke to a calm Saturday morning, but under a heavy police presence. Authorities maintained checkpoints on the main roads into the town, particularly on routes from Tetouan and Tangier. Surveillance was stepped up on land and at sea around the border with Ceuta, with fast boats from the Moroccan Royal Navy and surveillance drones taking part.
Despite the operation, a 17-year-old woman managed to reach Castillejos during the night. She told EFE she had travelled from Tetouan on a bus that was stopped at three checkpoints along the roughly 35 kilometres between the two towns, underlining the extent of Morocco's screening in the area.
Saturday's operation forms part of a wider deployment organised by Rabat to prevent a mass crossing that had been called for on social media. The calls came after the tragedy of late July, when tens of thousands of people crossed on foot or by swimming to the enclave.
Chams Edine Yakoub, a 25-year-old Sudanese migrant hoping to cross into Ceuta, told AFP that he was looking for opportunity. "In Ceuta, in Europe, people are better cared for," he said. "There's no work here. There's no money. There's no housing. There is absolutely nothing, I swear."
The situation in Ceuta remains tense, with thousands of minors left unprotected after the July surge. The Spanish government has insisted that Ceuta and Melilla's sovereignty is non-negotiable, while EU experts have arrived in the enclave as fears grow of a new surge. The European Union has pledged support to Spain and Morocco to manage migration, but the root causes—poverty, conflict, and lack of opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa—remain unresolved.
For many migrants, the perilous journey to Europe is a last resort. The deaths in July have not deterred others from trying. As one aid worker in Fnideq put it, "They know the risks, but they see no future at home." The Moroccan authorities say they are committed to preventing further tragedies, but the pressure on both sides of the border shows no sign of easing.
