ROCK THROWN AT REPORTER While Investigating Ceuta Migrant Crisis
Efrain Flores Monsanto and Alexa Lavoie report from Ceuta, where Spain's new floating sea barrier has failed to stop migrants swimming, climbing and wading into the enclave, and where a rock was thrown at our reporter mid-interview.
Rebel News reporters Efrain Flores Monsanto and Alexa Lavoie recently travelled to Ceuta to report on the recent mass illegal crossings into Spain's two North African enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla.
Spanish authorities have installed a new floating barrier along Ceuta's coastal border, meant to stop people from swimming into Spanish territory from Morocco. But migrants are still climbing fences, crossing by land and wading through the water, raising questions about whether the new defences do anything.
The reporters also went into El Príncipe, one of Ceuta's most dangerous neighbourhoods, where residents say people have been assaulted, robbed and killed. It is also where migrants shelter in the bushes and hills surrounding the district, and that is what our reporters found. Migrants are living in the area, and some locals bring them water and other basic necessities.
Along the shoreline, the impact of the crossings is impossible to miss. Parts of the beach have been cleaned. Long stretches have not. Piles of garbage, makeshift tunnels and bedding left near the ferry terminal show the strain on the city. One visitor told Rebel News he was shocked to see new arrivals sleeping in the grass shortly after reaching Spanish soil.
At night the risks grow. Hotel workers told Rebel News that new arrivals are no longer concentrated in one spot but are now scattered across the city. During an interview with a group of illegal migrants, someone threw a rock at Lavoie, forcing the crew to leave.
Some of those who crossed said they came for a better life and hoped, with God's help, to support their parents. One of them said, "We keep our stuff clean," while the ground around him was covered in garbage.
This is a small preview of a much larger report coming soon.
Stay tuned at MigrantReports.com, and please chip in to help offset the costs of our independent, on-the-ground journalism.
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