Spain says Morocco’s use of minors to breach border ‘unacceptable’ Published on Share
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles on Saturday denounced as “unacceptable” Morocco’s use of young people to violate Spain’s borders following a record influx of arrivals early last week.
“One thing is clear: when minors are used as an instrument to breach Spain’s territorial borders, this is unacceptable,” she told RTVE public television at a ceremony to mark armed forces day.
Spain and Morocco have been locked in a diplomatic spat over Western Sahara, which set off a chain of events that last week saw up to 10,000 mainly young people cross into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta as Moroccan guards looked the other way.
Europe must engage Morocco amid migrant crisis
Zaid M. Belbagi
June 01, 2021 22:44
A Moroccan boy swims using bottles as a float, near the fence between the Spanish-Moroccan border, after thousands of migrants swam across the border, in Ceuta, Spain, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
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Should European governments have hoped that the global health emergency would stymie the flow of migrants from Africa, they were mistaken. As European central bankers conjured digital billions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, in poorer African countries lockdowns arguably have cost more lives than they have saved. The very real nature of this crisis knocked on Europe’s doors last month, as 8,000 migrants sought to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, bringing home the importance of collaboration with North African partners like Morocco.
The Spanish royal, 48, donned a blush pink blazer dress with a pair of fuschia heels and a matching clutch bag as she stood alongside King Felipe for the event in Spain this morning.
The Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles accused Morocco of blackmail and of attacking her country after a record number of migrants entered the semi-autonomous Spanish enclave of Ceuta fr.
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on Thursday blamed Spain for the diplomatic spat between the two countries and said mass migrant crossings from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta this week were due to the weather and tired border guards.