Spain deports first group of migrants from Ceuta since July crisis

Spain has deported more than a dozen migrants from its North African enclave of Ceuta to Morocco on Tuesday. Al Jazeera reported that this was the first deportation of its kind since a mass border crossing into the Spanish territory in July. The Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed that the migrants were returned after their asylum applications were rejected, and stated that Morocco had agreed to receive them. [1]

The deportations included Nigerian and Senegalese migrants, according to Business Insider Africa. Rights group Amnesty International criticized the action by the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, stating that the returns were endangering the human rights of those involved, Al Jazeera reported. [1][2]

The move follows a major border crisis in late July 2026, when an estimated 80,000 people breached the border from Morocco into Ceuta. Most of the migrants entered by swimming around local breakwaters or walking along the shoreline, which overwhelmed local reception facilities and prompted officials to request a national emergency declaration, according to Wikipedia. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Spanish police also rescued 74 migrants from a house in Ceuta earlier in October, arresting a suspect on human smuggling charges. [6][9]