Dagens Nyheter3 hours agoWorld2 min read

CENIF report shows Moroccan coordination of migrant flow to Ceuta

Quick Look

The police intelligence service CENIF has handed over images of Spanish and Moroccan agents coordinating truckloads of migrants to the border at the Tarajal Pier in Ceuta, where 70,000-80,000 people crossed.
90.8 percent of the migrants' mobile phones were registered in Morocco.
Sumar rejects Sánchez's version and accuses Morocco of using migrants as a political weapon, while Ceuta's residents demand that Madrid move the ten thousand remaining migrants to the mainland.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Ceuta is a Spanish enclave in North Africa with approximately 88,000 inhabitants, half Christian and half Muslim. In late July, between 70,000 and 80,000 migrants crossed the border into Ceuta from Morocco, creating a humanitarian crisis. The Spanish government under Pedro Sánchez has previously singled out Russia and Israel as responsible for the migrant flow, while the left-wing Sumar party in the government accuses Morocco of orchestrating the flow.

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CENIF, which is the police's special intelligence service for migration and border issues, has handed over the images of police officers and agents, both plainclothes and in uniform, to Judge María Tardón, who is leading the investigation. The report also shows Moroccan plainclothes agents coordinating the arrival of truckloads of migrants on the final stretch to the Tarajal Pier, where between seventy and eighty thousand people crossed the border.

Another attention-grabbing detail in CENIF's latest report concerns the migrants' mobile phones. According to the Spanish digital spies, 90.8 percent of the phones were registered in Morocco. Among the others, 3 percent had sim cards from Algeria and 1 percent each had sim cards from Tunisia and Libya.

Single phones from a number of other African and Asian countries were traced, but also Spanish, Canadian, Danish, German and Italian mobile numbers crossed the border. No mobile numbers from Russia and Israel were detected, despite Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pointing out those countries - and not Morocco - as responsible for the sudden influx of people.

The left-wing Sumar party, which is part of Sánchez's government, completely rejects his version of events and condemns Morocco for using migrants as a political weapon to destabilize Spain. Close to ten thousand of those who entered Ceuta at the end of July remain in the city, which on weekdays has 88,000 inhabitants.

Many of the tens of thousands lack identity documents, which makes it more difficult to process their asylum applications, but also to deport them to Morocco, which only accepts people who can be identified.

Ceuta's population, half Christian and half Muslim, is demanding that Madrid move the homeless foreigners to the mainland, where resources exist to shelter them. However, such a solution collides with the EU's demands on Spain not to let them into the Schengen area.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

Spain will ask the EU to temporarily ease Schengen rules to allow the movement of migrants from Ceuta to the mainland
Possible
The Spanish government's internal conflict between Pedro Sánchez and Sumar will increase ahead of upcoming migration decisions
Likely

Open Questions

What measures will Spain take to deal with the tens of thousands of migrants remaining in Ceuta?
Will the EU change its demands on Spain regarding Schengen access for the migrants?
What evidence does CENIF have of Moroccan coordination of the migrant flow beyond mobile phone registration?
How will the internal division of the Spanish government between Sánchez and Sumar affect migration policy?