CEUTA: Almost all of the tens of thousands of migrants who entered Spain's enclave of Ceuta in North Africa had left by Saturday (Aug 31), officials said, as some EU countries bolstered their border controls over the sudden influx.An estimated 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta over just a few days from neighbouring Morocco, the enclave's regional president Juan Jesus Vivas told reporters, but by Saturday Spain's interior minister said almost all had left."The situation has been almost entirely reversed," Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters.Under the watch of Spanish soldiers and police on Saturday morning, the remaining young migrants continued crossing back over the border to Morocco, AFP journalists saw.
Any who lingered too long on the coastal path were immediately ushered back out by the soldiers.To cross into Ceuta, many swam around a small border barrier that juts out into the Mediterranean.At least 67 people died in the attempt, said Grande-Marlaska providing updated figures Saturday."We hope to go to Europe to work and earn a living. That's it," Souleye Bodian, 19, a Senegalese migrant told AFP outside a migrant centre in Ceuta where dozens of other sub-Saharan African migrants waited for officials."We all know that in Africa there isn't much opportunity," he said.The sudden influx of migrants had sparked political panic in Europe."ADIOS"Twenty-two EU countries issued a joint open letter on Saturday calling for a video meeting of the bloc's interior ministers "as a matter of urgency" to agree a speedy coordinated response, and to "prevent further uncontrolled crossings".France has tightened checks on its border with Spain and said it would increase its police presence there fivefold to 334 officers and gendarmes by Saturday.Italy suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain allowing for visa-free movement between borders as of Saturday for one month.Several European countries had suggested Spain's membership in the Schengen free movement zone should be suspended, though that was virtually impossible in practice.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a letter to the heads of the European Commission and European Council, blasted the "selfish" reaction by some EU countries. He backed a video meeting of interior ministers.Madrid has already rushed troops, police, drones, divers and boats to the North African outpost that it has run for centuries.
