Madrid: Spain fully deployed a floating sea barrier on Sunday along the maritime border of its North African enclave of Ceuta as the authorities continue to tighten border controls following the recent mass migrant influx from Morocco.
The floating barrier, installed off Ceuta's Tarajal beach, is now fully operational. The measure is designed to prevent irregular sea crossings after tens of thousands of migrants entered the enclave in recent days, many by swimming, Xinhua news agency reported.
Spanish authorities also said on Sunday that the official death toll linked to the crisis has risen to 72.
Meanwhile, the regional government of Ceuta said 88 bodies are currently being held in the city's morgue. Local authorities said some of the bodies were recovered from the sea more than two weeks after the migrant surge. The process of identification is still underway.
Although the large-scale arrivals have subsided, Ceuta has yet to return to normal.
Police and military personnel continued security operations across the city on Sunday, detaining migrants found on the streets. Those apprehended were taken to police stations for identification before deportation procedures were initiated.
The migrant surge has become one of the most serious border crises in Spain's recent history, prompting emergency measures by the Spanish government and renewed debate across Europe over migration management and the protection of the European Union's external borders.
A meeting of European Union (EU) Interior Ministers on the emergency migrant crisis going on in Spain's Ceuta enclave has been convened for August 4.
The meeting was requested in a letter signed by 22 European countries, led by Italy and Denmark, but without France and Portugal, the two countries bordering Spain, Italian news agency Adnkronos reported.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen received the letter from the 22 countries and from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accepting the request for an emergency videoconference to assess the crisis.
She reiterated that combating illegal migration requires solidarity and a united European response.
--IANS
