48,000 migrants return to Morocco after massive influx into Spanish enclave

Spanish authorities say 48,000 migrants have returned voluntarily to Morocco after a massive influx of people into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta sparked a humanitarian crisis.

Some 60,000 people have crossed into Ceuta in the last few days, reigniting the immigration debate across Europe.

Some swam several miles through the sea, defying authorities who tried to turn them back with water cannon, tear gas and warning shots.

At least 57 migrants died on the journey. Those who died include some who drowned or were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier near a border checkpoint.

Spain deployed its armed forces and additional police to restore order in Ceuta, which sits on the Strait of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and has been a Spanish possession since 1580.

On the Moroccan side of the border, security forces clashed with migrants. The chaos also had ripple effects abroad, with Italy and France pledging to tighten their controls on people arriving from Spain.

“The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable,” Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas told journalists.

Meanwhile, migrants from Morocco also attempted to cross into Melilla, Spain’s other territory at the tip of North Africa, where they clashed with police.

During a visit to Ceuta on Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the incident a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity”.

He has deployed the armed forces to bolster security in Ceuta and Melilla.