Thousands of men, women and children from Morocco have been risking their lives since Monday. To get to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, they climb over the border fence and swim around a pier that juts out into the Mediterranean. Of the numerous pictures and videos of the events, none went around the world as much as this one: A guard from the Guardia Civil lifts a baby in a romper suit out of the waves – and thus saves the little one’s life, no matter how young.
Spanish media identified the hero as Juan Francisco. He is part of a special unit for underwater activities from Ceuta. The baby is said to be two months old and in good health thanks to the efforts of Francisco. The Spanish newspaper «ABC» reports that the rescue operation took place on Monday. A spokesman for the Guardia Civil is quoted as saying that the child’s father almost drowned with the child: “The father could no longer take the baby. You were drowning, the guard saved him. ”
The Guardia Civil shares pictures of the rescue of some minors on Twitter and thanks the officials for their efforts:
8000 migrants arrived in Ceuta
The migration crisis on the European-African border came to a head at the beginning of the week after the Moroccan police suspended border controls. Around 8,000 people took the opportunity to get to European territory – more than ever before in the short time (around 36 hours). After two chaotic days, the situation in the Spanish North Africa exclave of Ceuta is said to have calmed down relatively on Wednesday.
Around 4800 people have now been deported to Morocco, as a representative of the Spanish Interior Ministry in Ceuta announced. Many returned voluntarily, it was said. Meanwhile, the number of new arrivals was “practically zero”.
How did that happen?
Observers in Spain are convinced that a dispute over Western Sahara, which was a Spanish colony until 1975, sparked the crisis. Morocco claims large parts of the sparsely populated area on the North Atlantic coast. The government in Rabat is angry because the head of the Polisario independence movement there, Brahim Ghali (71), is being treated in a Spanish hospital. Morocco only wants to grant the region autonomy. The loosening of border controls is seen as a kind of retaliation against Spain.
Although Morocco gained independence from France and Spain in 1956, Spain still has two exclaves in North Africa: Ceuta on the Strait of Gibraltar and Melilla, 250 kilometers further east. Both are claimed by the Moroccan government. In the vicinity of both areas, tens of thousands of Africans, mainly from sub-Saharan countries, are waiting for an opportunity to enter the EU. Usually several hundred people try to cross the border at once. They are fleeing from unemployment and prospects, the political instability in their home countries, the consequences of climate change – and a pandemic that will only make everything worse. (SDA / ouch)