Between 100 and 200 mainly Moroccan illegal migrants have begun a hunger strike at the sprawling Trampolín beach settlement in Ceuta, demanding asylum in Spain and opposing their return to Morocco after last month’s mass illegal invasion.
The protest began on Sunday, 16 August, when around 200 migrants gathered with Spanish flags and placards reading ‘We want asylum’ and ‘We don’t want to go back to Morocco’. Many refused food distributed by the Red Cross, according to Spanish media. More than 100 were still describing themselves as hunger strikers on Monday, saying they would continue until authorities provided a ‘solution’.
What solution, one might ask. According to media reports, among Moroccan migrants there are many angry over their negative asylum decisions. Around 500 Moroccan applicants already housed at the CETI—who entered before the 30 July mass invasion—have received negative decisions. Twenty-eight subsequently abandoned their applications and returned voluntarily to Morocco.
Moroccans are feeling ‘discriminated’ and treated unequal as, they claim, Madrid favours Sudanese and Sub-African refugees, who fleeing real war zones over those who illegally invaded the Spanish enclave and illegally remained for more than two weeks now. That dissatisfaction fuelled further on Monday as Pedro Sánchez’s government announced the deployment of another 1,500 temporary accommodation places, with around 800 expected to house Sudanese asylum seekers, most of them having rightful claim of protection due to the war in Sudan.
They also demand not only permission to stay in Spain, but ultimately an opportunity to reach mainland Spain and continue to continental Europe.
The hunger strike is concentrated at Trampolín, where around 1,000 migrants lives in more than 80 makeshift huts. Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas estimates that roughly 8,000 to 10,000 migrants remain across the enclave, while the government say around 3,000 to 5,000.
They remain after more than 72,000 to 80,000 illegal migrants crossed from Morocco during the 30–31 July mass invasion. The unprecedented crisis severely strained the city of around 84,000 inhabitants and was followed by mounting security concerns. Guardia Civil has registered 15 rape cases since the mass crossing, while residents in several districts subsequently organized neighbourhood patrols and roadblocks to keep migrants away from residential areas.
Vivas has rejected the hunger strikers’ central demand. His position is ‘no regularization, no asylum and no transfer to the Peninsula’, calling instead for those who entered illegally to be returned to Morocco. On Monday he accused Madrid of ‘almost absolute passivity’ and threatened legal action unless normality is restored within 30 days.
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