00:00Exhausted migrants collapse on the beach after swimming to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from
00:06Morocco on Saturday.
00:07According to Spanish authorities, about 50,000 people had crossed into Ceuta by land and
00:13sea from Thursday, an unprecedented surge at one of the European Union's only land borders
00:19with Africa.
00:20Spain says more than 48,000 of them have since returned to Morocco.
00:24On Saturday, a large group was seen being escorted back by security forces.
00:30Officials say at least 67 bodies have been recovered on the Spanish side.
00:35Some drowned, others crushed while trying to climb the breakwater and border fence.
00:40I prefer to die here than to go back.
00:45Mujahid Ahmed said he has been on the move since conflict erupted in his home country of
00:51Sudan.
00:51One day, when I was watching the media, I saw that people, they are carrying by thousands
00:58of borders.
00:59So I say, let's try.
01:01I am not a Moroccan.
01:03If they should return me, they should return me to my country.
01:07And this is the situation.
01:10Can you return the people to the country that is having a conflict or crisis war?
01:16They are human.
01:17Migrants told Reuters they had initially been drawn by viral social media videos and messages
01:23from friends suggesting that the heavily guarded border could be breached.
01:28Many, including Moroccan waiter Yassin Ichou, said hunger, exhaustion and hostility from locals
01:34had crushed their hopes of a new life in Europe.
01:39He says he spent a day without food because all the shops and markets were closed.
01:44Spain said migrant crossings into Ceuta stopped overnight as police began installing a more than
01:501,500-foot floating barrier.
01:52The head of Ceuta's local government, Juan Jesus Vivas, says the atmosphere remains tense.
01:58Ceuta has not returned to normal.
02:03We are not in a state of normalcy.
02:05There are still several thousand people in Ceuta who must be returned.
02:10And the atmosphere among the population of Ceuta remains marked by unease and concern.
02:20The mass crossing prompted alarm across the European Union and 22 member states wrote
02:26a letter asking for a coordinated action to protect external borders and other measures.
02:32Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it had called an emergency video conference
02:38meeting of the bloc's interior ministers to discuss the crisis on Tuesday.
02:43Yesterday!
02:44The Forum
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