Spain will deploy its military to restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta, after thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny Spanish territory, with at least nine dying in the attempt.
The announcement comes after local authorities in Ceuta had asked the central government in Madrid for reinforcements to manage a border crisis that had been building up before boiling over on Thursday with large crowds of people breaching the border fence.
Spain’s government said Thursday evening it would send the Armed Forces to help the Civil Guard “maintain security in the city of Ceuta”. It also announced that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would join Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in a visit to Ceuta on Friday.
“The situation is absolute chaos,” said Rachid Sbihi, head of the association that represents Spain’s Civil Guard officers who police the border in Ceuta.
“It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said, adding that the border had “totally collapsed.”
Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in northern Morocco, described the situation as “exceptional”. “The Tarajal border was opened under unusual circumstances this morning and people crossed,” he said.