Spanish PM blames Russia, Israel for Ceuta disinformation

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has blamed Israel, Russia and far-right groups for disinformation surrounding the surge of irregular migrants in Ceuta, Spain’s North African territory.

Debate continues over one of the largest irregular migration surges in Spain, when more than 70,000 irregular migrants reportedly swam from the coast of Fnideq, Morocco, into the Spanish city of Ceuta on July 30-31, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

Debate continues over one of the largest surges of irregular migration in Spain, involving more than 70,000 irregular migrants who swam from the coast of the Moroccan city of Fnideq into the Spanish city of Ceuta on July 30 and 31.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena SER, Sánchez said that around 5,000 irregular migrants were still in Ceuta after the migration surge had entered its second month, including approximately 1,200 minors.

Emphasizing that criminal organizations and false messages spread on social media were behind the influx of irregular migrants in Ceuta, Sánchez said he had received no information indicating that Moroccan security forces or official authorities were behind the migration crisis.

“No information has come from the state security forces or the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) that would raise any suspicion of the involvement of Moroccan authorities,” Pedro Sánchez said.

Sánchez noted that the CNI employs highly professional and specialized personnel. Nevertheless, he said there had been no information-sharing that conveyed the “seriousness and scale” of the events that took place in Ceuta in July.

“Fake news was spread through social media networks linked to Russia and Israel”

“Fake news was spread through social media networks linked both to Russia and Israel, as well as by international far-right groups that have always exploited the migration issue,” Sánchez said, adding that they believe this was done with the aim of attacking not only Spain but Europe as well.

Sánchez said that most of the irregular migrants who entered Ceuta had arrived for economic rather than humanitarian reasons. He added that authorities would soon have sufficient capacity to accommodate the migrants currently sleeping on the streets, and said that cooperation with Morocco was producing positive results.

Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez will speak in the plenary session of parliament on September 3 regarding the events in Ceuta.

What happened?

More than 70,000 irregular migrants swam from the coast of the Moroccan city of Fnideq into Spain’s North African city of Ceuta on July 30 and 31.

The Spanish government said that all available state resources had been mobilized in response to the incident.

As irregular attempts to enter Ceuta increased, the Spanish government decided to deploy the armed forces to the area in order to ensure security.

The number of irregular migrants who died while attempting to cross from Morocco into Spain was put at 88.

Spain’s opposition conservative and far-right parties have accused the government of responding too late and inadequately to the irregular migration crisis in Ceuta.

In the autonomous city of Ceuta, where the right-wing People’s Party is in power, opposition to irregular migrants has also intensified, reportedly encouraged by Spanish nationalist groups.

Photo: Wikipedia