Six high-end vehicles were seen this Friday morning leaving Ceuta for Morocco. The border crossing was opened exceptionally to repatriate 300 Moroccans stranded in the city since March.
According to Ceuta TV, sources within the local government delegation said that the repatriated Moroccans «were on a list set up by Morocco».
Many Moroccans who were not on the list tried to reach the border crossing on Friday, «without being able to return to their country», wrote El Pueblo de Ceuta journalist Javier Romo on his Twitter account. He also shared the video of a Moroccan woman who complains about her exclusion.
Centenares de marroquíes a las puertas de la frontera sin poder regresar a su país.
— Javier Romo (@JaviRomo_M) May 22, 2020
Se quejan de la gestión de la Delegación del Gobierno y de #Marruecos. #Ceuta #Tarajal pic.twitter.com/96GpHDPBKf
Moreover, Moroccans staying at the La Libertad gym in Ceuta were not part of the list. Contacted Friday by Yabiladi, Hassan El Bakkali, a Moroccan stranded in Ceuta, said that his «wife was repatriated this morning» and that he «was prevented from leaving with her because his name was not on the list».
He said that he wrote his name next to that of his wife when filling documents about his repatriation. «They did not reveal how they selected the returnees this morning and did not mention a second phase for the operation», he regretted.
For the record, the repatriation of Moroccans stranded in Melilla had also sparked controversy. Moroccans living in difficult situations denounced their exclusion from the operation, criticizing the Moroccan authorities, who were behind the list.