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Morocco Foils Attempt by 400 Migrants to Storm Ceuta

A migrant leaves the Spanish military ship 'Audaz' after arriving from an Italian port, following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and Spanish-registered private rescue boat 'Open Arms', at a port in San Roque, near Algeciras, Spain August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A migrant leaves the Spanish military ship 'Audaz' after arriving from an Italian port, following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and Spanish-registered private rescue boat 'Open Arms', at a port in San Roque, near Algeciras, Spain August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
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Morocco Foils Attempt by 400 Migrants to Storm Ceuta

A migrant leaves the Spanish military ship 'Audaz' after arriving from an Italian port, following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and Spanish-registered private rescue boat 'Open Arms', at a port in San Roque, near Algeciras, Spain August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
A migrant leaves the Spanish military ship 'Audaz' after arriving from an Italian port, following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and Spanish-registered private rescue boat 'Open Arms', at a port in San Roque, near Algeciras, Spain August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Moroccan authorities reported on Friday that they foiled a mass attempt by over 400 Sub-Saharan migrants to storm Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.

Nine migrants sustained minor injuries and were rushed to Fnideq’s hospital, said the local authorities of M'diq-Fnideq. They added that over 90 others were arrested and handed to security services, while the search continues to arrest the rest.

Meanwhile, Spanish authorities said that a group of 155 migrants forced their way into Ceuta from Morocco on Friday.

"They are all from sub-Saharan Africa, the majority from Guinea," a spokesman for the central government's office in Ceuta told AFP.

They broke through the barbed wire fence bordering Morocco early Friday morning, taking advantage of misty conditions, slightly hurting 12 police officers who tried to stop them, he noted. Several migrants were treated for cuts.

Further, 16 migrants were treated due to other injuries.

In the same context, a military source said that the royal guards have offered help in the sea to 156 irregular migrants, including 15 women and three children. They were facing difficulties onboard several inflatable boats.

Some of the migrants were in poor health. The royal guards provided the necessary medical care to the migrants, who were then brought safely to different Moroccan northern ports.

Meanwhile, Morocco has broken up 100 human trafficking networks and stopped 57,000 crossings this year, according to Government spokesperson Mustapha Khalfi.

The country officially rejected to establish shelter centers for migrants, as Europe is demanding. It considers that this suggestion would complicate the situation.

Rabat is demanding financial aid from the EU to face the illegal migration, knowing that in 2018 the total number of migrants wishing to reach Europe doubled compared to 2017.

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Arab World

Sudanese Stakeholders Hold Roundtable Talks in Geneva

A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
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Sudanese Stakeholders Hold Roundtable Talks in Geneva

A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)

Geneva has hosted a third “roundtable” of meetings involving Sudanese political and civil groups aimed at bridging the gap between the country’s warring parties. These talks, coordinated by the French organization Promediation, follow similar meetings held previously in Cairo and Geneva. The primary goals are to negotiate a ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians.

The two-day meetings, which began on Monday, include representatives from the Coordination of Democratic Civil Forces (Tagadum), the pro-army Democratic Bloc coalition, and armed movements aligned with the bloc. However, some groups have announced their boycott of the meetings.

The Democratic Bloc has shown conflicting stances on attending the Geneva talks. Mohammed Zakaria, spokesperson for the bloc and a member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), announced his group’s decision not to participate.

Omar Khalafallah, a leader in the Democratic Unionist Party and another bloc spokesperson, refuted Zakaria’s statement, insisting that the bloc would attend the meetings to promote a national vision.

A source within the Democratic Bloc told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meetings revealed significant internal divisions in the coalition. The JEM, led by current Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim, appears to be charting its own course, which the source described as a form of defection.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Sharif Mohammed Osman, a leader in Tagadum and the political secretary of the Sudanese Congress Party, explained that the meetings seek to achieve consensus on ending the war through negotiated solutions, starting with a humanitarian truce to ensure aid delivery and the opening of safe corridors.

These measures are considered preliminary steps toward a ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, he underlined.

A wide array of civilian leaders are participating in the talks, including key figures from Tagadum, such as Sudanese Congress Party leader Omar Al-Dukair, Federal Gathering Party leader Babiker Faisal, and head of the Sudan Liberation Movement – Transitional Council Al-Hadi Idris.

Osman expressed optimism that the participants would issue a unified final statement addressing the peaceful resolution of the war and agreeing on a humanitarian truce to facilitate aid delivery.

In October, Cairo hosted a similar meeting, which resulted in a final statement signed by the participating groups, except for the Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi faction and the JEM – Jibril Ibrahim faction, which refused to endorse the Cairo declaration despite attending the discussions.

Promediation, a French organization supported by the French and Swiss foreign ministries, has played a consistent role in Sudanese affairs. Since June 2022, it has organized roundtable discussions, initially focusing on negotiations between Darfuri armed movements before expanding its scope to include Sudanese political and civil forces in the wake of the war.