For the first time since the Ceuta crisis: Spain deports migrants to Morocco

For the first time since the migration crisis in July, Spain deported a double-digit number of migrants from Ceuta to Morocco, after their asylum requests were rejected. Amnesty International criticized the move; Spain's Interior Ministry rejected the claims.

Spain carried out its first deportation of its kind today (Tuesday) of a double-digit number of migrants from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta back to Morocco. The step comes after the migrants' asylum requests were rejected with the consent of Moroccan authorities, and following the fall of left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last month. The deportation is the first since the severe migration crisis in late July, when about 80,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco to Ceuta within 48 hours, and at least 100 people were killed. Although most of the infiltrators left, about 8,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia are still staying in Ceuta, some sleeping on the streets. Amnesty International claims the deportation violates Spain's human rights commitments. In response, Spain's Interior Ministry strongly rejects the accusations, clarifying that the European Union defines Morocco as a safe country and that the deportations are carried out legally.