Why Did 60,000 Migrants Cross from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta? Moroccan Dutch Professor Explains

By Democracy Now!

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Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt An estimated 60,000 people from Morocco crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, in an unprecedented mass movement last week. At least 72 people died during the attempt. The sudden influx of migrants overwhelmed the city's residents, leading to a humanitarian crisis while border police deployed water cannons, tear gas and warning shots to deter people from crossing. According to Spain's Interior Ministry, nearly all of the migrants returned to Morocco just a day later. Miriyam Aouragh, an anthropologist and the daughter of Moroccan immigrants to Europe, says the driving factors for the mass movement are a combination of shifting entry policies to Spain and increasing economic inequality in Morocco that "has given a sort of empowering incentive to people to try to go to Spain" via Ceuta. The city, which is surrounded by Morocco along a five-mile-long border, dates back to the

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