Four migrants die as over 200 attempt to swim to Ceuta

Four people died and at least 20 others went missing while attempting to swim to Ceuta, which recorded more than 200 crossing attempts over the weekend.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, Spain’s Civil Guard found the body of a migrant on Saturday before recovering three more bodies from the sea on Sunday. These discoveries bring to 27 the number of migrants found dead off the coast of Ceuta since the start of the year.

The Spanish agency quoted security sources as saying that crossing attempts continued between Saturday and Sunday, particularly in the early hours of the morning. These attempts involved Moroccans and Algerians who set off from the coast of Fnideq and, to a lesser extent, from the Belyounech area.

More than 100 migrants managed to reach Ceuta, while Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie intercepted the others. The influx pushed the temporary migrant reception center beyond its capacity of 512 places, forcing more than 100 people to wait outside its gates.

Civil Guard sources linked the rise in crossing attempts to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling banning the immediate return of migrants who arrive by swimming, a decision that ended the practice at sea pending new instructions from Madrid.