Spain says Moroccan government refuses to hand over body

Euronews reported on the 22nd (local time) that funeral proceedings have begun for immigrants who died while crossing the border between Morocco and the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa.

At the Ceuta Muslim Cemetery, a burial ceremony for the 18 dead was held the day before with an Islamic cleric praying. They are all men and their identities have not been confirmed.

Cemetery manager Saeed Mohammed said he plans to bury about 70 bodies, 10 to 12 each day, and that he has installed a marker with an identification number in case the bereaved family comes to visit the body.

At the end of last month, when about 80,000 immigrants attempted to cross the border, a total of 96 people died, including 82 in Ceuta and 14 in Morocco. Many people drowned or were crushed to death while trying to cross the breakwater near the border checkpoint. Among the dead, 90, excluding six Moroccan men, have not been identified.

Regarding the start of burials, the Moroccan Human Rights Association urged, "The body should be handed over to the bereaved family so that they can be buried with dignity." The autonomous government of Ceuta claimed that it had completed the necessary procedures to move the body to Morocco, but that the Moroccan government refused to hand it over.

In Ceuta, thousands of people are still staying in shacks made of plastic bags. The Spanish government is setting up temporary shelters and cleaning up the trampoline beaches where they usually stay. However, many migrants are moving to government facilities and then returning to their shacks for fear of being deported to Morocco, Euronews reported.

Immigration organizations that demand money to transport them from Ceuta to mainland Spain are still active. Spanish police announced the day before that they had arrested five smuggling brokers in Ceuta and on the mainland across the Strait of Gibraltar. They demanded 8,000 euros (about 12.97 million won) in exchange for a boat ride to the mainland.