[International] Misinterpreted Ruling and Online Amplification Lead to Tens of Thousands of Illegal Border Crossings in Ceuta
RtiTalk 小編19d agoEdited
Last week, Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta saw a massive influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border, which initially involved only a few individuals. However, fueled by a series of viral online videos, an action by dozens of young people escalated on July 30th into tens of thousands of people collectively swimming across the border.
According to Reuters, official statistics indicate that over 80 people died from drowning or during stampedes.
The catalyst for this illegal border crossing surge occurred three weeks prior. The Spanish Supreme Court issued a ruling stating that migrants intercepted at sea could not be immediately repatriated at the borders of Spain's enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. However, legal experts emphasized that this ruling did not preclude the possibility of official repatriation through expedited procedures at a later stage.
Ceuta has long been an attractive destination for migrants harboring "European dreams." But as misinterpretations of the Spanish Supreme Court's ruling spread, including the notion that "once you reach Ceuta, you won't be repatriated whether by sea or land," more and more people decided to try their luck.
In one video, a young Moroccan man stated on a German street: "Don't believe anyone who says you'll be repatriated if you enter Ceuta. You won't be." This video was later deleted but was quickly re-uploaded and circulated by other accounts.
In addition to the aforementioned video, since July 7th, other posts have appeared on various Meta platforms. One claimed that a Spanish program to regularize hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants was ending on July 30th. This false information received over 28,000 likes. In the early hours of July 30th, similar messages began to circulate widely.
However, this rumor was entirely baseless. In reality, the program only applied to irregular migrants who had resided in Spain for at least five months by the end of 2025, and the application period had already closed on June 30th. The Spanish government had received more than double the expected 500,000 applications, and the authorities had never extended the deadline.
Currently, most of the videos and online groups urging people to go to Ceuta have been deleted, and their original posting dates are unknown. In fact, similar online incitement is not unprecedented; Morocco prosecuted dozens of individuals in 2024 for allegedly orchestrating large-scale border crossings online.
Media Reports Unexpectedly Become an Incentive, Sparking the Crossing Tide
Besides the push from misinformation, media reports also created an unexpected chain reaction. By July 23rd, about 100 people had arrived in Ceuta. The local media outlet "El Faro de Ceuta" linked this wave of migration to the Spanish Supreme Court's ruling. Spanish and Moroccan officials shared the same view, accusing human trafficking organizations of spreading and exploiting this false information through social media.
The catalyst for the first wave of border crossings was a video posted online by "El Faro de Ceuta." The footage showed young men in Ceuta smiling brightly, giving thumbs-up or victory signs. According to several migrants interviewed by Reuters, this footage unexpectedly motivated more people to attempt swimming across the border. Hundreds began to enter the water.
A subsequent wave of crossings was related to another report by "El Faro de Ceuta" on July 28th, titled "Ceuta Can't Take It Anymore." The report featured images of two smiling young women, soaking wet, walking through the city streets. Three Moroccan migrants interviewed revealed that this video circulated widely in Morocco, further fueling the illegal migration.
Influencers Follow Up with Videos Inciting Action, Chat Groups Urge Crossing
The next day, similar videos flooded social media, with influencers boasting tens of thousands of followers uploading footage of themselves swimming towards Ceuta, wearing wetsuits or using swim rings.
Mounim Belhaj, a pet groomer with 31,000 followers on Instagram (IG), stated that he decided to make the journey after seeing media reports about the reception center in Ceuta accommodating migrants. He said, "Spanish media showed that arriving migrants were well taken care of, which gave us a lot of confidence to go there."
Among the online messages were also misleading videos. One video, attracting millions of views, showed a young man swimming towards a location with a selfie stick. Some posts claimed it was Ceuta, but it was actually filmed in early July in another city on Morocco's Atlantic coast.
The next morning, the crowds surged. Spanish authorities reported that over 70,000 people had illegally entered Ceuta.
Chat groups also seemed to play a role in amplifying the situation. Spanish security analyst Chema Gil pointed out that there were two public WhatsApp groups managed by Algerian numbers, which shared route suggestions to Ceuta with their 3,700 members.
Group messages encouraged members to act quickly, with posts like "If you don't act today, you'll regret it tomorrow." Gil could not identify the administrators, and Reuters could not independently verify the existence of these deleted groups.
By the evening of the following day, most people chose to return due to hunger and hostility. Thousands remained stranded, primarily sub-Saharan Africans and unaccompanied minors who could not be repatriated.
Belhaj stated that going to Ceuta "was a wrong decision. There was only hunger there." (Editor: Liu Xianghua)
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=224365
How does this article make you feel?
0 people reacted