Africa

Au moins 5 000 migrants arrivent dans l’enclave espagnole de Ceuta, un record en un jour

C’est un fait sans précédent. Au moins 5 000 migrants, dont un millier de mineurs, sont parvenus, lundi 17 mai, à atteindre l’enclave espagnole de Ceuta depuis le Maroc voisin, arrivant à la nage ou à pied quand la marée le permettait, ont indiqué les autorités espagnoles, évoquant un « record » pour une journée.

Des hommes, des femmes et des enfants ont utilisé des bouées gonflables, d’autres des canots pneumatiques et certains ont même nagé jusqu’au territoire espagnol de Ceuta.

Selon un porte-parole de la garde civile espagnole, la marée était si basse à certains endroits qu’on pouvait pratiquement arriver à Ceuta en marchant.

À l’aube, ils n’étaient encore qu’une centaine. Mais au fil des heures, le flot n’a cessé de gonfler. Dans la nuit de lundi à mardi, le porte-parole de la préfecture a annoncé à l’AFP que 5 000 personnes avaient franchi la frontière et que ce chiffre, inédit, pourrait encore augmenter.

#Inmigración #Marruecos Ya se ha superado la cifra de 4.000 personas que han entrado en Ceuta de manera irregular. Al parecer, una persona ha fallecido y varias han sido heridas o con semiahogamientos, y trasladadas al Hospital. Ceuta está desbordada.#MarruecosgolpeaaEspaña pic.twitter.com/zEx8ZraZNe
— Ceuta Ahora (@AhoraCeuta) May 17, 2021

Des migrants tentent régulièrement de rejoindre Ceuta en escaladant les hautes clôtures qui séparent cette enclave du Maroc.

Fin avril, une centaine de migrants marocains avaient déjà gagné ce territoire espagnol, à la nage. La majorité d’entre eux avaient ensuite été expulsés vers le Maroc.
Contexte de tensions diplomatiques entre Madrid et Rabat

Ces arrivées s’inscrivent dans un contexte de tensions diplomatiques entre Madrid et Rabat, rappelle notre correspondant à Madrid, François Musseau. Même si le gouvernement socialiste espagnol le nie, en relâchant la surveillance policière à Finideq, la ville frontalière, Rabat punit son voisin pour avoir hébergé dans un de ses hôpitaux à la mi- avril Brahim Ghali, le leader du Front Polisario, ce mouvement qui revendique l’indépendance du Sahara occidental, occupé par le Maroc depuis 1976.

Pour Rabat, c’est une provocation qui méritait des représailles. Celle-ci a pris la forme de cette arrivée massive, qui déborde les infrastructures de Ceuta, petit territoire qui ne dispose que d’un seul hangar habilité par l’armée et d’une capacité de 200 personnes pour accueillir les sans-papiers. Madrid aimerait rapatrier ces migrants arrivés à la nage, mais pour cela il faudra le feu vert du Maroc. Or, pour l’heure, la tension est à son comble entre les deux pays en raison du conflit au Sahara occidental. Rabat souhaite une pleine reconnaissance de sa souveraineté sur ce territoire. Madrid veut une négociation avec le Front Polisario.

Sommet de Paris: éviter le décrochage de l’Afrique

Ce mardi 18 mai se tient à Paris un sommet consacré au financement des économies africaines et à l’épineuse question de la dette. La pandémie de Covid-19 a plongé l’an dernier le continent dans une récession sans précédent. Les pays africains ont besoin de financer leur relance, mais contrairement aux grandes puissances, ils n’ont pas les mêmes capacités. Le sommet de Paris doit notamment examiner les décisions prises par la communauté internationale à propos d’une réallocation de DTS, les fameux droits de tirage spéciaux.

50 Migrants Die When Dinghy Sinks in the Mediterranean Sea

The boat departed from Libya on Sunday and sank due to overweight and weather conditions such as continuous rain, strong winds, and high waves.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday reported that at least 50 people drowned off the coast of Tunisia when the dinghy carrying them to Europe capsized.

The boat departed from Libya on Sunday and sank due to overweight and weather conditions such as continuous rain, strong winds, and high waves.

About 30 African migrants were rescued by coast guard units and taken to Tunisia, according to IOM spokesperson Safa Msahli.

This would be the deadliest deadly shipwreck so far in 2021 off the coast of Tunisia after 41 people were shipwrecked on April 14.

On May 14, the Red Crescent also reported the disappearance at sea of at least 17 migrants from sub-Saharan and Sahelian countries. They were drifting in a dinghy that had left one of the beaches surrounding the Libyan city of Zawiya.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), around 23,500 African migrants have reached the coasts of Italy and Spain.

Approximately 633 people have disappeared at sea, mostly on the route from Tunisia and Libya to Italy, which is considered one of the deadliest routes in the world. So far this year, over 7,000 migrants have been intercepted by patrol boats and returned to Libya.

Spain hit by massive wave of migrants from Morocco

Morocco is also angry at Spain for providing medical care to the leader of a Western Saharan independence group.

Morocco and Spain are in a diplomatic row over a migration surge involving the two Mediterranean states. The issue coincides with Moroccan anger over Spain providing medical treatment to a Western Saharan independence leader.

Nigeria: Religious Extremism Fueling Violence

Escalating bloodshed in Nigeria is fueled in part by religious extremism – and the United States must recognize this in order to achieve peace, says the former U.S. religious freedom ambassador.

“This thing’s going to blow up on us, as we would say, ‘bigger than Dallas,’ if we don’t get into there and really start taking this seriously at this point,” Sam Brownback, former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, told CNA on Wednesday of violence in Nigeria.

Mozambique: Crisis in Mozambique Is Grabbing the World’s Attention

As the insurgency in northern Mozambique continues to escalate, not only is the humanitarian crisis deepening, but the instability’s ripple effects are being felt far beyond Mozambique’s borders.

Over 700,000 people in the region have been internally displaced, and nearly a million are facing severe hunger. Humanitarian appeals have struggled to attract sufficient funding, but developments in the region suggest that some elements of the crisis definitely have the world’s attention.

Nigeria: Suspected Herders Kill 6 in Taraba

Six persons were reported killed while scores were wounded with hundreds displaced following an attack on Utsua Daa and Baafada villages at Bali Takum in Bali local government area of Taraba State, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered yesterday.

A relation of one of the victims, Mr. Tyokua Ayoo told LEADERSHIP Weeekend on the phone that gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked the communities on Thursday afternoon.

Nigeria: Again, Northern Groups Call for Buhari’s Resignation Over Insecurity

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has again called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over insecurity, accusing him of failing to secure the lives and property of the citizenry.

The coalition claimed that the nefarious activities of bandits and other criminals terrorising Katsina and other Northern states, forced President Buhari to stop celebrating Salah at his country home, Daura.

White People ‘Rescued First’ in Mozambique Attack – Amnesty

White contractors were prioritised for evacuation ahead of Black locals during a rescue operation following an attack in March 2021 by insurgents on the Mozambican town of Palma, according to Amnesty International. In a report compiled from interviews with 11 Black survivors, Amnesty says that even dogs were pulled to safety before Black people by a helicopter that airlifted civilians from a hotel where they had sought refuge. The attack on Palma left dozens of Mozambicans and foreigners dead, according to the government, and displaced tens of thousands. It marked a major intensification in a conflict that has wreaked havoc across Cabo Delgado province for more than three years.