Rabat: Morocco said on Thursday there were “no facts” establishing its involvement in the massive migrant rush into Spain’s North African exclave of Ceuta in July.
More than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31 in an unprecedented, chaotic surge that left scores dead and sparked European Union infighting over the touchy issue of migration.
The Moroccan foreign ministry said there were “no facts or reports proving any involvement by the Moroccan authorities”.
The ministry added that Rabat refused to become the “scapegoat for political score-settling” in Spain.
The statement marked the kingdom’s first official reaction to a Spanish police report accusing Morocco’s security forces of “total permissiveness” when the mass crossing took place.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has consistently avoided blaming Morocco, noting that there was no “solid proof” that the North African country orchestrated the migrant rush.