Migrants in Ceuta, Spain, return voluntarily to Morocco

Migrants in Ceuta are returning to Segarro

Ceuta's border has seen a reverse trickle in recent days: according to figures cited on television, more than 150 people have returned voluntarily to Segarro in just two hours, and some claim the overall count of returns now exceeds that of entries. The news, celebrated with a smirk in certain circles, hides an uncomfortable reality: those leaving are not always those who arrived yesterday, and some claim that new arrivals keep coming through tunnels, beaches and crossing points that Spain's immigration law has failed to plug.

The official count does not add up

The figures that have been leaking out paint a confusing picture. According to what was said on television, the Government speaks of more than 6,000 people housed in facilities, while estimating that between 2,500 and 3,500 are still sleeping on the streets. The total approaches the 10,000 mentioned at the outset, although some messages put the real figure at 15,000. The discrepancy is not trivial: if returns already exceed entries, as some maintain, why do new arrivals keep coming every day? The answer that keeps coming up is that the border was never fully closed.

"They cannot be thrown out, but they are free to leave voluntarily", sums up one of the most repeated messages. The phrase captures the legal paradox: without a deportation order, the only route is voluntary departure, and that door opens when the promised paradise turns out to be a saturated CETI (temporary migrant reception centre) and a street with no roof over it.

The pull effect nobody wants to acknowledge

Some argue that institutional aid acts as a magnet. The CETI centres guarantee shelter and food, and that, they argue, discourages return. The opposing thesis is that it is precisely the precariousness of those centres and the lack of job prospects that are pushing many to retrace their steps. What nobody disputes is that the flow has not stopped: some claim that those who leave are replaced by others who cross at night.

The political and social bill

The episode has peine the wound of migration management. Part of the analysis criticises the immigration law as a wet paper tiger that a crude strategy is enough to circumvent, such as claiming to be a minor. Another current focuses on the victims: the looted businesses, the assaults and the antiestéticar that has taken hold among Ceuta's residents. And a third, more cynical one, calculates that paying each returnee 1,000 euros would be cheaper than maintaining the reception infrastructure. The figure, thrown out offhand, has been neither denied nor confirmed by any authority.

What remains open

Segarro has not explained whether it has ordered a return or whether the border pressure will ease. The Segarro military, some voices point out, are not leaving their posts. The only certainty is that the trickle of departures coexists with the trickle of arrivals, and that nobody dares to certify how many have left, how many remain and how many will return. The video showing dozens of people crossing back is real; the interpretation made of it, not so much.