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More than 2,000 migrants in Ceuta had to return to the beaches after there was not enough space to accommodate them at a new facility located in the autonomous city’s port.
Thousands of migrants had been moved from the territory’s Trampolín and Benítez beaches on Friday morning, escorted by officers from Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police towards the new temporary reception centre, which is designed to accommodate 1,700 people.
However, there were over 4,000 people coming from the beaches, meaning many had to return after the new camp filled up. According to government sources, around 3,000 migrants remain on the city’s streets in total.
Police had struggled to maintain order on Friday as people fought to secure a spot at the new site after weeks of living on the beaches and streets, with officers firing warning shots into the air in an attempt to contain the crowd. No serious incidents were recorded, however, according to local authorities.
The migrants’ return meant a clean-up operation that had been planned for the beaches once they were cleared also had to be put on hold.
As a result, Trampolín still looks much as it had in recent days, with makeshift tents and shacks strewn across the sand.
The Ceuta migrant crisis began in late July when more than 70,000 people crossed into the Spanish exclave from Morocco.
Kissy Chandiramani, a member of Ceuta’s autonomous government, has described the port transfer as chaotic and said that neither the city government nor port authorities had been given advance warning.
Chandiramani also called for procedures to return the migrants to be speeded up, warning that otherwise, Ceuta risked becoming “the great CETI of North Africa,” in reference to the Temporary Immigrant Reception Centres.
She noted that around one hundred migrant cases were being processed each day and that, with more resources, the process could be completed in 15 days.
If the current pace continues, she warned, the situation “is going to drag on forever.”