Migrants Return to Morocco After Hunger and Hostility in Spain's Ceuta

Hundreds of migrants who crossed into Ceuta, a small Spanish territory on the northern tip of Africa, began returning to Morocco on Saturday. Many had swum through the ocean or climbed tall fences to get there just days before. They had hoped to find a way into mainland Europe. But instead, they found hunger, closed shops, and an unwelcoming atmosphere.

The migrants said viral social media videos and messages from friends told them the heavily guarded border could be crossed. Once inside Ceuta, though, many discovered there was no easy path to the rest of Spain. A man named Brahim, a bakery worker from the city of Fez, said he quit his job to make the crossing after watching videos of thousands doing the same. 'We came to make progress, not to be fooled,' he said. He survived three days on water alone because food prices were far too high.

Back in Fnideq, the Moroccan city just across from Ceuta, streets that had been packed with thousands of people two days earlier were now almost empty. Young men were walking away from the border or waiting for taxis out of town. Many local shops had been closed for several days. The contrast with Thursday's huge crowds was striking.

Migrants returning to Morocco described the same difficult conditions. They searched for food and water while their soaked clothes dried in the streets. Supermarkets and stores inside Ceuta had shut down during the crisis. 'Ceuta was like a prison — nothing to do there. Everything was closed,' said one man who worked at a Moroccan port.

Some migrants said that residents of El Principe, a mostly Moroccan neighborhood in Ceuta, drove them away. A waiter named Yassine Ichou said he was hit and chased out of the area. He believed the shop closures were a plan to push migrants out. 'They imposed a siege to force us to leave Ceuta by ourselves,' he said. 'They succeeded in their plan.'

Spain's Interior Ministry reported two minor injuries from knife attacks and said police arrested one suspect. No deaths from knife attacks had been recorded since Thursday. In the center of Ceuta, some cafes reopened and customers began to return. Even so, most shops stayed closed and police cars patrolled the streets as a show of security.

A migrant reception center was completely full and could not accept more arrivals. Thousands of migrants were believed to still be somewhere in Ceuta. A hardware store owner named Tito said the sudden influx left locals both frightened and sympathetic. 'Those young people, they're being completely exploited. They're being used as bargaining chips,' he said.

Not everyone chose to return. Mohamed Ahmed, a 43-year-old Sudanese man, said he was dropped near the border by a truck and then swam for four hours to reach Ceuta. Police were blocking migrants from reaching a migration center, he said. But he had no plans to go back to Morocco. 'I'm not going back. I'd rather die trying here,' he declared.