300 Migrants Storm Spanish Exclave of Ceuta, Attack Police with Acid

And the Spanish government actually wants these people???

African immigrants celebrate as they enter the immigrant center in Ceuta on Wednesday.

© Reuters/Fabian Bimmer

Seven police officers suffered acid and lime burns as more than 100 sub-Saharan migrants jumped the border fence that separates Morocco from Spain's north African exclave of Ceuta.

Approximately 300 people tried to enter European territory by storming the fence on Tuesday night. Press reports state that as many as 200 were successful, however officials in the autonomous city say they have only accounted for 115 new arrivals.

The migrants cut part of the, 8.4km-long (5.2 mile) fence and used battery acid, quicklime and excrement to attack police officers, El Pais reports. The police revealed on Twitter that seven members of the force suffered injuries during the incident.

Do you believe this?

Because of vacations, the border was manned by fewer than 10 agents when the migrants chose to storm the fence. Numbers were also reduced because it was the first day of the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival. The Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) police representative group has long been critical of the shortage of officers manning the border.

The union should sue the government for leaving those guards in such a predictably vulnerable position.

Once inside the fence the migrants raced through the streets in a bid to reach the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI). The Red Cross treated the migrants who suffered cuts and bruises when they arrived there.

Local news outlet El Faro de Ceuta published video footage of the migrants running around in the city after breaching the border. They can be heard shouting “Boza! Boza!”, which means “victory” in, the west African language of Fula.

The Ceuta border fence is regularly breached by large groups of migrants looking to get into Europe. In late July, more than 700 people stormed the fence and more than 600 of them managed to cross the barrier in what Spanish police described as one of “the most violent and numerous entries” of migrants in recent months.

In February 2017, more than 500 stormed the fences of Ceuta.

Controversial Germany-Spain Deal on Migrants Comes into Force

Germany takes advantage of left-leaning government in Madrid

African migrants react after crossing the border from Morocco to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, Spain

August 7, 2017. / Reuters

As a Berlin-Madrid deal to send back migrants coming though Spain comes into force, critics call it a "symbolic" gesture aimed to calm the political storm in Germany but that will not solve the migrant crisis.

Germany reached a deal on Wednesday for Spain to take back previously registered migrants who show up at the German border. The move is seen as the first step towards implementing a deal which Merkel earlier reached within the ruling coalition to defuse the political dispute in Germany over migration.

Under the Wednesday agreement, migrants picked up at the German border who previously registered in Spain will be returned there within 48 hours, German Interior Ministry spokeswoman Eleonore Petermann said.

While Berlin portrays the deal as a breakthrough in the current gridlock over migrants, some Spanish port cities are concerned there are not enough resources to cope with the new arrivals. On Thursday, the mayor of the Andalusian city, Algeciras, one of the largest ports in Europe, criticized the recent arrival of an NGO rescue ship carrying 87 migrants.

José Ignacio Landaluce told local media that as mayor, he has "to ensure citizens' interests" and that he doesn't want a "social imbalance."

"The Spanish have big hearts, yes, but on this issue we have to use our heads, because there is not enough money," he said.  

Spain overtook Italy to become the largest European gateway for asylum seekers traveling across the Mediterranean, according to recent data from the International Organization for Migration. Over 24,000 have arrived on Spanish shores so far this year – three times more than in 2017.

The vulnerability of the Spanish borders was seen in a recent incident in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, a hub for African migrants trying to reach Europe. In late July, hundreds of asylum seekers attempted to cross into Spain from Morocco, and most of them succeeded. 

Symbolic agreement?

Rafael Ripoll, the president of the right-wing Spanish party Respeto, says that Spain is blindly following orders from Germany. "The only purpose of this symbolic agreement is to help Merkel save face before her own government, which is in trouble right now. And of course, Spain is going to obediently take whatever Merkel throws at us," he told RT.

Ripoll believes that Europe – particularly Spain – can't take in more migrants. "Every week, we see problems plaguing Spanish cities, all because there is no way to control the inflow of migrants, and because there is no way to give jobs to the newcomers."

Meanwhile, "thousands of skilled young Spanish people" are leaving the country every month because the state fails to provide them with opportunities, Ripoll said. "We've made the biggest mistake a nation can make: we have forsaken our own children to take in others."

Merkel's coalition nearly fell apart in June over a rift caused by the migrant crisis. German Interior Minister and Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Horst Seehofer threatened to resign if the influx of asylum seekers to Germany wasn't curbed. A compromise was eventually reached after it was agreed that Germany will prevent migrants registered elsewhere from entering the country and will return them to the point of their departure. However, the political damage had already been done – recent polls show a record decline in the ratings of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.

Europe is currently experiencing the biggest refugee crisis since WWII. The number of asylum applications reached 650,000 in 2017. 

700+ Migrants Storm Spanish Exclave of Ceuta, Some use Homemade ‘Flamethrowers’

African migrants in this still image from video climb the border from Morocco to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, Spain, July 26, 2018 / Reuters

Hundreds of migrants armed with sticks and homemade flamethrowers broke through the border fence in Ceuta, according to the Spanish Civil Guard. Over 100 migrants and 15 border agents were injured in the fight.

“Over 700 sub-Saharans” attempted to storm the border fence, the Civil Guard said in a statement, adding that “at least 602” of them managed to cross the barriers. Volunteers and the local branch of the Red Cross said that 132 migrants sustained injuries, while 11 had to be taken to a local hospital.

Some of them were cut with barbed wire while trying to climb the border fence, and others sustained broken bones. The scuffles also led to 15 border agents receiving injuries. Some agents were burnt as the migrants attacked them with homemade flamethrowers while trying to avoid arrest.

Migrants were also reportedly fighting off the border agents with sticks, quicklime and sprays containing fouls odor. The migrants appeared over the fence and "all of a sudden,", some of them were pelting police with "plastic containers full of excrements and quicklime... stones and sticks", the Civil Guard  said.

Wow! That should make Spain want to keep you as permanent citizens!

Spanish media cited police who say the recent incident is one of “the most violent and numerous entries” of asylum seekers in recent months. 

Ceuta is one of two Spanish territories in North Africa, along with Melilla. The city is a hub for African migrants trying to reach Europe. Over 19,000 people have landed on in Spain in 2018 so far, according to the data from the International Organization for Migration. 

Back in June, newly appointed Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced his desire to remove the fence. “I’m going to do everything possible to see that these razor wire fences at Ceuta and Melilla are removed,” he said.

video 1:56

Responding to the Thursday incident in Ceuta, the Guardia Civil's AEGC union called upon the Spanish authorities to clarify its “plan B” to maintain security if the wire was removed.

“We're one of the main entry points from the third world into Europe and none of those in charge at the interior ministry have wanted to see or resolve the problems this is causing,” it said.

According to the police union, migrants breaking through the fence “demonstrated that these problems are going to worsen if more Guardia Civil, and anti-riot and protection equipment, fail to arrive when the barbed wire is removed.” 

Asylum seekers have repeatedly tried to force their way into the Spanish exclave by storming a wired border fence. The attempted incursions often resulted in injures both among asylum seekers and police officers. In January 2017, crowds of migrants approached the 6-meter-high barbed wire border fence which police called a “well organized and violent” attempt. In February 2017, hundreds successfully crossed into Ceuta, kissing the ground and shouting “Viva Espana!”

It is hard to imagine how desperate these guys are to escape poverty and the insanity of Muslim revolutions in sub-Saharan Africa. If Europe had worked with those countries many decades ago, to build a sustainable economy, rather than exploiting them for selfish gain, we would almost certainly not see the astonishing exodus of young people from their native countries into Europe that we are seeing now.

Is it too late to address the matter? Maybe. With the desperate poverty comes extraordinary corruption, so it is not easy to invest in a country where money just disappears. And then there is the ever-increasing Islamic insanity...