‘Saw Migrant’s Hand Being Slashed, Saw People Die’: Migrants Who Entered Spain From Morocco Return

Ceuta: Spain has said “virtually all” of the estimated 60,000 migrants who stormed its North African enclave of Ceuta by land and sea in recent days have already left again voluntarily.

The death toll of people trying to enter Ceuta was raised to at least 67 on Saturday, Spanish officials said, adding there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side of the border, Al Jazeera reported. Some of the returnees said hunger and violence from locals in Ceuta were the reasons for leaving the Spanish territory.

Migrants recount violence

"We saw dead bodies in the morning, in a heartbreaking condition," one of the migrants who was leaving said, speaking to DW News. "They assaulted the migrants. I witnessed them slashing a migrant's hand and then cut off one of his fingers," another migrant said.

Meanwhile, Spain has started installing a 500-metre floating barrier along the coast of its North African enclave of Ceuta after the unprecedented rush across the border with Morocco left at least 67 people dead.

The crisis escalated on Thursday and continued into Friday, with security forces clashing with migrants on the Moroccan side of the border

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, speaking in Ceuta, condemned the border breach, calling it "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity."

Sanchez condemns border breach

The Spanish leader blamed human smugglers, saying they "deceive so many young people, and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths — whether in the ocean or, as in this case, at Spain's border in the autonomous city of Ceuta."

The scale of the influx represents the most severe border escalation in Ceuta since 2021, when over 8,000 individuals entered the territory from Morocco.