Hundreds of migrants arrested near Ceuta border in latest crackdown

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 AUGUST 2026 —

Nearly 300 migrants and 61 alleged facilitators were detained by Moroccan security forces during a mass migration attempt near the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, as authorities intensified border security following calls for renewed crossings.

Moroccan state broadcaster Medi 1 TV reported that 294 sub-Saharan African migrants were arrested on Saturday while attempting to enter Ceuta by land and sea. Authorities also detained 61 Moroccans accused of facilitating the migration attempts, according to the broadcaster.

The latest crackdown follows a surge in migration attempts two weeks prior, when over 72,000 migrants rushed toward Ceuta in one of the deadliest migration crises in the region. Official figures reported at least 90 deaths on both sides of the border, though human rights groups suggested higher tolls.

The attempted crossings were preceded by a rise in social media posts encouraging people to head to Ceuta, a Spanish city on Morocco’s northern coast. In response, Moroccan and Spanish authorities increased security deployments along the border.

On Sunday, hundreds of migrants staged a protest on a popular urban beach in Ceuta, demanding Spanish authorities grant them asylum instead of repatriating them to Morocco. They were among an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 migrants remaining in the city after the mass border crossing two weeks ago.

With Ceuta’s resources stretched thin, most migrants were living in difficult conditions on Trampolin beach or the city’s outskirts, awaiting opportunities to move onward to continental Europe. Ayoub Elarroud, a migrant from Morocco’s Tetouan, told Reuters, “We’re sleeping next to the sea, with cold and bad smells. We’re suffering a lot,” adding that police were preventing them from entering the city center.

Protesters displayed Spanish flags and banners reading, “We don’t want to go back to Morocco” and “We are also human,” while chanting slogans such as “We’re tired” and “We need a solution.”

Earlier this week, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska stated that irregular migrants would not be permitted to stay in Ceuta, travel to mainland Spain, or obtain legal status, except in rare cases of extreme vulnerability.

A senior Moroccan diplomat previously told The Associated Press that over 20,000 Moroccan security personnel are deployed daily along the border with Ceuta at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thousands of migrants from across Africa and beyond travel to Morocco annually, fleeing conflict, poverty, and instability in search of a route into Europe. Many attempt to reach Ceuta or Melilla—another Spanish exclave on Morocco’s northern coast—hoping to eventually move to mainland Spain for better economic opportunities.