RABAT, July 31. /TASS/. An increasing number of illegal migrants, who have made it to Spain’s Ceuta on the African coast of the Mediterranean Sea, have been asking border services to let them go back to Morocco voluntarily, The Maghreb Times reported.
According to the online news website, hundreds of adults and minors have inundated the El Tarajal border checkpoint, asking for permission to voluntarily leave the autonomous Spanish city and go back to Morocco. During their first hours in Ceuta, many of them "felt uncomfortable and discovered that reality was starkly different to the image that had inspired them to illegally cross the border of the city, given its extreme density and the inability to directly cross it from Ceuta to the Pyrenean Peninsula," the news website added.
Nor is it clear what kind of measures Spain may take against them, witnesses say, adding that limited core resources too have mostly influenced migrants’ decision to go back to the North African kingdom. "The euphoria that accompanied the arrival of migrants to Ceuta quickly changed into the feelings of alarm and being at a loss as the scope of the crisis facing the city became evident, and concerns about uncertainty facing thousands of migrants who have found themselves in the autonomous city without a clear future intensified," The Maghreb Times wrote.
Morocco will be the final point of destination for those who have illegally made it to Ceuta, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles told reporters. "Mafia groups must stop deceiving young people and those who cross from Morocco to Ceuta, because they will end up going back to Morocco," the Spanish defense chief warned.
According to Spanish media, thousands of migrants have managed to reach Ceuta by swimming or walking around the breakwater separating the city from Morocco. Amid the migration crisis, the Spanish authorities have deployed troops to ensure security in the city.