3 months after mass entry, some 15,000 migrants remain in Ceuta

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Three months after the mass entry into Ceuta, many migrants still hope the Spanish enclave will offer them a route to mainland Europe. Local authorities and residents are struggling with the surge.

Azdin sits on a wall beside a shopping centre, smoking a cigarette. His grey tracksuit hangs loosely on his slim body. At 21, his face looks older than his years.

He sleeps in makeshift huts, where rain seeps through, and washes at the beach when the weather allows.

"We manage somehow," he said. "Sometimes food comes from Morocco, and locals help us too."

Like thousands of other migrants, Azdin has remained in Ceuta since 100,000 Moroccans and people from farther south entered last July, according to local authorities, in a migration crisis likely fuelled in part by a social media disinformation campaign. The Spanish enclave borders Morocco, though the North African country does not officially recognize it as Spanish territory.

At least 140 people died during the crossing. According to a Spanish police report, more than 88,000 have since returned to Morocco.

Back at home in northern Morocco, Azdin worked 16-hour shifts in a restaurant for just 100 dirhams, or $14 Cdn, a day. Now, he is hiding from authorities, hoping he can somehow reach mainland Europe, where he believes there are better opportunities. (CBC News is identifying him and other migrants interviewed for this story by their first names, due to their fears of being deported.)

Three months after the mass entry, many migrants are hoping similarly. The situation is "extraordinarily serious," said Ceuta's Second Vice-President Kissy Chandiramani. She estimates 15,000 remain around the small enclave, whose population is roughly 80,000.

Chandiramani estimates thousands of migrants are avoiding reception centres for fear of deportation. Since Morocco is considered a safe country under the EU asylum system, many fear their claims will be rejected.

During his first days, Azdin slept in the forest. When he went into town for food, he encountered the military.

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