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Spain·European Union·Migration·Diplomacy

Morocco acknowledges 11 deaths during Ceuta migrant crisis after days of silence

Monday, 3 August 2026, 06:12 · 1 min read

Morocco's Interior Ministry broke its silence on Sunday, confirming that at least 11 people died — most by drowning — during the recent mass crossing into Ceuta (a Spanish enclave on Morocco's northern coast), while blaming the surge on misinformation spread via social media and human-trafficking networks. The ministry said roughly 40,000 people attempted to cross into Ceuta in the wave, though Spanish authorities put the figure closer to 60,000 and have recorded at least 72 deaths on their side of the border. Among those who died was Moroccan women's footballer Faten Ben Omar Al-Azizi, who drowned while attempting to swim from the Moroccan border town of Fnideq to Ceuta; reports circulating online claimed her Spanish visa application had been approved the day after her death. The crisis has triggered a broader European diplomatic dispute, with 22 EU member states calling an emergency ministerial video conference for Tuesday, and Italy announcing it has suspended its Schengen open-border obligations with Spain for one month.

Sources
BBC Arabicالحكومة المغربية تخرج عن صمتها بشأن أزمة سبتة، فماذا قالت؟ ↗︎BBC Arabicفاتن العزيزي: وفاة لاعبة كرة قدم مغربية غرقاً خلال موجة العبور الأخيرة نحو سبتة ↗︎
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