00:03All eyes have been on Spain in recent days after some 60,000 migrants surged across the border
00:10from Morocco to the Spanish territory of Teuta.
00:13Before tens of thousands crossed the border, videos and rumours circulated online, particularly
00:20on TikTok, suggesting that reaching the territory had become easier and that migrants could
00:25not be so easily returned.
00:26One claim was that those who got there would end up in mainland Europe, with several European
00:31politicians alleging that the migrants were headed their way.
00:35Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney threatened to suspend the open border Schengen agreement
00:40with Spain, while France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced plans to strengthen
00:46border checks with Spain.
00:48However, the EU's Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said that no migrants crossed into
00:53the EU mainland, and that Schengen rules already account for special checks when travelling
00:58from Teuta and its sister city Melilla.
01:01Madrid also says that the vast majority of the migrants have already returned to Morocco.
01:06It remains unclear what caused the sudden surge.
01:09Spain's government has blamed criminal gangs, while migration and human rights activists
01:14say misleading social media posts also help fuel departures.
01:18Others, including the US Department of State, said that the Spanish government's decision to
01:23regularise thousands of migrants encouraged the crossing by signalling Madrid is becoming
01:28more lenient.
01:29But the scheme only applied to migrants already living in Spain before the 1st of January this
01:35year, meaning it would not apply to new arrivals.
01:38Social media has also been cited as a contributing factor, with since-deleted TikTok videos claiming
01:44the border was open and misrepresenting a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling, which found that
01:50migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily returned without due process.
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