Ceuta: Spanish intelligence accuses Morocco of passivity
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Maghrebemergent
Spanish intelligence says Moroccan authorities were warned on 29 July about mass assaults planned against Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. A report sent to the National Court accuses Moroccan forces of passivity as migrants arrived, according to extracts published by the Spanish press.
Spanish intelligence has accused Moroccan forces of passivity during the mass entries of migrants into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. The National Intelligence Centre (CNI) says Moroccan authorities had been warned about the preparations, according to reports sent to the National Court and extracts published by the Spanish press.
The CNI says it sent an urgent alert to its Moroccan counterparts on 29 July. It reported calls for an assault by land and sea, notably circulated in a WhatsApp group and on a Facebook page. The report considers that the deployment of Moroccan forces was insufficient and that their attitude enabled the border to be crossed at around 11am on 30 July.
A Spanish police report sent to Judge María Tardón goes further: it denounces “total permissiveness” and says plain-clothes officers directed migrants towards certain crossing points. It also refers to a “structured organisation”. The CNI, for its part, does not conclude that Rabat organised the crossings. The Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez has also dismissed this hypothesis, while leaving open the possibility of a reassessment if new evidence emerges.
The crisis had already prompted criticism from Pedro Sánchez over Moroccan border controls on 22 September, before the Spanish prime minister praised the strengthening of security at the Sebta border the following day. These exchanges come against the backdrop of migration relations between Morocco and Spain, to which the two countries linked a new roadmap announced on 9 October.
