When Abdulah Buji heard the border had been breached, he took his motorbike from his home in northern Morocco and raced toward Ceuta, joining tens of thousands trying to swim into the small Spanish territory in North Africa.
Like many countrymen, Buji hoped this collective crossing could help him achieve his dream of reaching Spain and starting a new life in Europe.
“Spain gives you the chance to make your future, not like Morocco,” said Buji, a 21-year-old teacher trainee. “I am a talented boy. I just want a chance.”
However, his initial excitement upon reaching Spanish soil quickly turned into disappointment as he realized he was still far from his ultimate goal. Mainland Europe lay across the Mediterranean, and both he and other arrivals were unwelcome. Spanish authorities ordered everyone to return or face potential expulsion.
Buji reported that he nearly joined over 50 people who died attempting to reach Ceuta while swimming around a border fence. Although he made it across, he lost his money and belongings during the crossing. Upon realizing he would likely face detention and legal uncertainty, he turned back.
“I’ve spent perhaps 14 years studying, but there is nothing at home, and I’d have to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage,” Buji told The Associated Press. “That’s why I came here, but I haven’t found any opportunities here either, so I have to go back.”
A surge in migrants created a humanitarian crisis
Of the 60,000 people who crossed between Thursday and Friday morning, approximately 45,000 had returned to Moroccan territory within hours. Many spent the night on Ceuta streets amid startled locals and armed Spanish police and soldiers.
The massive influx, which accounted for 70% of Ceuta’s resident population, prompted local Spanish authorities to call for police and army intervention to restore order. Locals expressed concern over thousands of mostly young men walking aimlessly through the streets.
Ceuta residents recalled a similar but smaller migration crisis in 2021 when the Moroccan government lifted its border controls, allowing several thousand people from Morocco and sub-Saharan countries into Ceuta over two days. This time, the city faced a significantly larger humanitarian crisis.
People flee out of despair and wanting to help their families
As initial reports and videos of migrants reaching Ceuta circulated on social media, more individuals traveled north hoping to reach European Union territory. Train stations in Morocco’s capital, Rabat, and its largest city, Casablanca, were crowded with people attempting to travel to the border with Ceuta. Local media showed police officers preventing some from boarding trains and buses.
Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, stated that it is unclear what triggered the influx, but social media was flooded with posts encouraging Moroccans to attempt entry into Ceuta days before the event began. These posts included practical advice on crossing the border and phrases migrants should use to improve their chances of staying.
Cherti noted that some migrants she interviewed over the past year had lost track of how many times they attempted to cross the border.
“They’re doing it out of despair, they’re doing it because they’ve tried other ways to build a life and failed, they’re doing it because they feel the obligation that they want to help their families and support them,” she said. “And that’s possible if they make it to Spain and not necessarily possible if they stay” in Morocco.
Ahmed Karim, 33, was among those who successfully crossed into Ceuta. He is unemployed and noted that many Moroccans face compounded difficulties traveling outside the country.
He stated that many Moroccans desire to go to Europe or America but “don’t have the opportunity.”
Searching for loved ones in the chaos
Other individuals who crossed were not intending to stay; they were searching for missing relatives, hoping they had not perished.
Ikrra Khai, 33, is one of thousands of Moroccan women who regularly receive temporary job permits to work on Spanish farms during harvest time.
On Friday, she was in Ceuta looking for the brother of a close friend.
“I don’t know if he is dead or alive,” she said. “I have his residency card. But I don’t know where he is. I’m searching.”