By Ahmed Eljechtimi
RABAT, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Spanish authorities should have anticipated the consequences of a court ruling that weakened a key deterrent against illegal migration and contributed to last week's mass crossings into the enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco, a senior Moroccan official said on Monday.
Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned from Ceuta to Morocco since last week's crossing, while Moroccan authorities say about 40,000 people entered the enclave.
The death toll stands at 72 on the Spanish side of the border and 11 on the Moroccan side.
Ceuta Regional President Juan Jesus Vivas accused Rabat of having "encouraged and permitted" the influx, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned against any attempt to use irregular migration to pressure an EU member state.
The local authorities in Ceuta should have anticipated the consequences of a ruling that deactivated illegal migration deterrence, the senior government official told reporters in a first briefing since the crisis unfolded.
The Spanish ruling on July 8 limited the immediate return of migrants who reach the Spanish enclaves by sea. Morocco had not relaxed border controls or reduced security deployments before the mass crossing on Thursday, he said. Morocco's migration-control approach rests on prevention through the deployment of around 24,000 security personnel along its northern coast and deterrence through rapid readmissions for migrants who enter Spanish territory illegally. The July ruling was quickly used by trafficking networks, he said. "The message became just cross and you will be protected," he said. "Europe asks us to stop migrants from crossing, but on the other side they roll the red carpet when they cross!" Rabat stopped 79,000 attempted crossings in 2024 and 74,000 last year, according to official figures.
He described Moroccan-Spanish cooperation on border control as "exemplary" until the ruling disrupted years of consistency. "It is up to Spain to find a solution to restore deterrence," he said.
"Morocco will never be complicit in a purely security-based approach to migration," he said.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
