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More than 48,000 migrants have returned to Morocco from Spain’s North Africa enclave of Ceuta after tens of thousands crossed the frontier in recent days.
Spain’s interior ministry told AFP on Friday that 48,300 migrants had crossed back into Morocco.
Earlier, Juan Jesus Vivas, the president of Ceuta, said about 60,000 people had crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave by land and sea, with many swimming around a border barrier extending into the water.
In the morning, the death toll had been pegged at 18. It has since risen to 57.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast. Together with Melilla – another autonomous Spanish city in North Africa – it forms the European Union’s only land border with Africa.
Both cities have frequently experienced surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who travelled to Ceuta after the mass crossings, said his government was mobilising all available resources in response to the situation.
Sanchez described the crossings as a “violation” of Span’s territorial sovereignty, adding that authorities are speeding up the repatriation of migrants who arrived this week.
The Spanish government later deployed soldiers to patrol the exclave and “maintain security”.
Meanwhile, Italy has temporarily suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain following the mass crossings.
