Spain: 70,000 migrants return from Ceuta to Morocco

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that approximately 70,000 of the 72,000 migrants who entered the Spanish city of Ceuta last week have returned to Morocco.

Marlaska added, following a meeting of EU interior ministers on Tuesday, that authorities will continue to assess the status of those remaining, with a view to “returning those who are not entitled to stay in Spain,” in accordance with Spanish and international law.

He emphasized that any deportation operations would be carried out with full respect for legal guarantees and human rights, while noting that Spanish authorities had not received any intelligence indicating an impending crisis of this scale, adding that what had been anticipated was a usual seasonal increase in arrivals during the summer.