The Spanish police authorities have announced that around 100 Moroccan migrants tried to reach Spain’s Ceuta enclave through swimming from the neighbouring country, Morocco.

The migrants left from beaches in Fnideq, a town in northern Morocco a few kilometres away from Spain, on Sunday, April 25, worldwidecollege.in reports.

A spokesperson of the Guardia Civil police force of Ceuta revealed that a small number of migrants reached one of the beaches in Ceuta on their own. However, the others had to be rescued by Spanish rescue boats.

The authorities revealed that the migrants, of which some were minors as well, started to swim to Ceuta in groups of 20 to 30 during the day.

“It is not normal, there can be groups of three, four or five, but not this many,” the Spanish police spokesperson said, commenting on the large group of people that were swimming together.

After reaching the shore, the migrants were examined by the Spanish Red Cross workers. Three of the migrants were given treatment in one of the hospitals for hypothermia. On the other hand, the police authorities took the rest of the migrants to a warehouse to undergo COVID-19 quarantine restrictions before their asylum requests get processed.

Ali Zoubeidi, a senior consultant on the smuggling of migrants, human trafficking, and organized crime, said that at least three Moroccan migrants died attempting to reach Ceuta by swimming through the Mediterranean Sea. However, when this statement was made, the authorities did not officially confirm any deaths.

“Before, many migrants wanting to enter Ceuta and Melilla hid in trailers, trucks, and cars heading there. But with the epidemic and the closure of land borders, would-be migrants have sought new ways to enter the enclaves, such as swimming,” Zoubeidi added, claiming that illegal border crossing through swimming has increased after land borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla are the only ones in the European Union that have land borders with Africa. Thus, being separated from Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar, the migrants are able to enter EU countries from Africa through these Spanish cities by swimming along the coast or climbing the border fences that separate them from Morocco.

According to the UN Refugee Agency figures, 246 persons have arrived in Ceuta and Melilla in only these four first months of 2021, 80 per cent less than the number of migrants that arrived at the same period last year.

Moreover, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 6,676 migrants have arrived in Spain by using sea roads this year, and more than 400 persons lost their lives since last year on that route.