Spain offers token response as Morocco border ‘totally collapses’ (VIDEOS)

    Madrid has rejected Ceuta’s pleas for decisive action and a formal declaration of a national emergency as some 30,000 people reportedly swarm the frontier

    Spain has deployed just 60 troops to its North African exclave of Ceuta after thousands of migrants overwhelmed security forces and stormed across the border from Morocco, with up to 30,000 more people reportedly swarming the frontier.

    The Spanish Interior Ministry said the military contingent consisted of three platoons of 20 soldiers each, sent to reinforce the Guardia Civil after officers admitted that the border had “totally collapsed.” Madrid also dispatched specialized police units, bringing their total number to around 200, as well as 30 additional Guardia Civil officers.

    The small military deployment came after Ceuta’s regional government pleaded with Madrid to take “decisive” action, close the border and declare a national emergency, warning that local police, hospitals and migrant reception facilities had been overwhelmed.

    Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government rejected the emergency request, arguing that migration does not qualify under legislation covering natural disasters, major accidents and other national catastrophes.

    The soldiers were ordered to support the Guardia Civil “in the exercise of its powers” and perform any additional tasks deemed necessary to maintain security. However, Madrid announced no expanded rules of engagement or independent authority for the troops to seal the frontier, detain migrants or carry out expulsions. Their publicly defined role therefore remains one of supporting the police rather than taking control of the border.

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