Ceuta’s multi-faith communities will hold a peaceful rally Sunday demanding measures are taken to prevent a new migrant invasion of the city.
The peaceful rally, organized under the slogan, “Enough, Ceuta does not give up,” will see the city’s four major religious communities gather together on Sunday night at the city’s Plaza de la Constitución (“Constitution Square”).
Per the event’s organizers, a manifesto will be read during the event to demand that the Spanish socialist government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the European Union take all necessary actions to prevent a new migrant invasion of Ceuta.
The organizers are reportedly expecting a turnout of about 20,000 residents.
Thousands of Illegal Migrants from Morocco Flood into Spanish Territory
The local outlet El Faro de Ceuta reports that leaders of Ceuta’s Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu communities held a meeting on Thursday alongside the city’s cultural and neighborhood representatives. The participants addressed the ongoing crisis in Ceuta after some 72,000 migrants swarmed into its territory last week. The leaders of Ceuta’s four main religious communities agreed to hold Sunday’s upcoming peaceful rally as a sign of unity among the city’s inhabitants regardless of their religious beliefs.
Per El Faro de Ceuta, the upcoming rally is one of several actions that the representatives agreed upon “in light of the total neglect of the people of Ceuta regarding the problems we face.”
The chosen gathering point, Ceuta’s Constitution Square, was reportedly chosen by the four religious communities due to the “symbolic” meaning the it holds. The communities explained that the Spanish Constitution “is the umbrella that we go to so that the laws are complied with and we are treated as the Spaniards that we are.”
Most notably, El Faro de Ceuta and other local outlets reported that Ceuta’s own local government will join the upcoming peaceful rally. The city’s government reportedly stated that it considers the rally as a “demonstration of the strength of Ceuta’s society and its firm determination to uphold the values of coexistence, respect, solidarity, and cohesion that have historically defined the city.”
The outlet El Español reports that, in addition to demanding actions to prevent a new migrant invasion, the upcoming event aims to unite the City so that it stops being “beaten by Morocco.”
Mercedes Canca, a representative of Ceuta’s Catholic community, spoke El Español and emphasized, “We are tired of the situation and of the tests that we are being subjected to.
“We need protection. We need the agreements that were reached to be honored. Morocco said that after the events of 2021, this would not happen again,” Canca reportedly said.
“Five years have passed, and it has happened again, only this time on an extreme scale. It is unsustainable.”
Samuel Levy, a member of Ceuta’s Jewish community, explained to El Español that the rally’s slogan was not a trivial choice, but a choice Meade because “We’ve had enough and can’t take it anymore.”
“There comes a point where the Government’s inaction becomes overwhelming. We cannot live with this Sword of Damocles hanging over us,” Levy said.
“One day it’s 500 people, the next, 70,000, and they cannot be sent back! What kind of law allows for rejection by land but not by sea in a country surrounded by coastline?” He continued, referring to the recent Supreme Court’s ruling and the legal loophole that sparked last week’s massive migrant invasion.
The Ceuta-based NGO Luna Blanca has distributed more than 12,000 meals in recent days to illegal migrants who entered the city during the mass influx from Morocco. (Ivan Zambrano / Europa Press via Getty Images)
Levy also pointed out that all of Ceuta’s four main religious communities have lived in peace for years, and said that no attacks on Jewish business have taken place in the city.
“Ceuta is peace and concordance,” Levy told El Español.
According to the Spanish government, some “70,000” of the roughly 72,000 migrants that flooded Ceuta last week have allegedly left the city over the past days. Ramesh Chandiramani, the head of Ceuta’s Hindu community, told El Español on Thursday that “thousands” of migrants are still dwelling through the city’s streets — an assertion that, El Español affirmed, was echoed by all sources consulted by the outlet.
“The city is in a serious situation, with a great deal of insecurity,” Chandiramani told El Español. “We have watched with dismay as military forces have been withdrawn and as police cars have driven by without taking any action. We must regain trust.”