The military truck has just arrived at the beach when one of the immigrants takes advantage of the distraction. He suddenly gets up, breaks through the fence formed around the group, and runs towards some stairs. The legionnaires follow him while several soldiers ask the journalists to intervene, to block his way, to tackle him. The man, however, manages to escape upstairs.
The scene takes place next to the breakwater bordering the San Pablo warehouses, one of the gathering points set up in Ceuta to assemble immigrants located by the Army before taking them to the border with Morocco. There, Maghrebis, Sub-Saharan Africans, and citizens of other countries remain seated against the wall, surrounded by legionnaires and under the supervision of a pair of National Police officers.
The police observe the operation, but it is the soldiers who chase those trying to escape, intercept the immigrants, and escort them by the arm to the gathering area. The soldiers themselves acknowledge, off the official channels, the destination of the groups.
“I could lie to you, but we take them to the border,” admits the commanding lieutenant.
The soldiers, visibly annoyed by the presence of journalists, claim that the people gathered on the beach have agreed to return “voluntarily.” However, the concept of voluntariness is at least vague. Some beg not to be forced to leave, others cry, and several try directly to escape when the legionnaires approach.
Images of immigrants making maneuvers to dodge the soldiers are repeated. Those who escape upstairs have soldiers chasing them. Some manage to break free. Others return with soldiers holding them by the arm and leading them back to the group seated by the breakwater.
One of the Sub-Saharan men is approached by several legionnaires who try to lure him by a trick to the gathering point. The man notices their intentions, feints to one side, and dodges them with a quick change of direction.
Another immigrant from Yemen kneels on the ground and begins to pray. A soldier wearing a Marine Infantry t-shirt tries to lift him and take him away while shouting: “Come on, damn it. Come on, damn it.”
A few meters away, another man is led with his hands placed behind his back. The leader of the group he belongs to also cannot leave. Among those gathered are Maghrebis, Sub-Saharan Africans, and two men with Yemeni passports who plead for mercy and beg not to be sent to the border.
The immigrants arrive at the beach from different points in Ceuta accompanied by small groups of legionnaires. Most of the soldiers do not carry weapons, although some commanders and non-commissioned officers do. A pair of national police officers remain in the area and supervise the actions, but it is the soldiers who carry out the chases and keep the groups surrounded.
The operation is not limited to the beach. The Army has distributed surveillance points throughout the city to locate immigrants walking the streets and direct them to the gathering place next to the San Pablo warehouses.
One of these posts is next to the tourist office, beside the General Captaincy. A female soldier stands alone next to a military vehicle with a walkie-talkie in hand. On the other side of a small bridge appear two young men without socks and dressed only in summer clothes.
The soldier watches them and alerts via radio before heading towards them. She talks with both in Arabic while another man joins the conversation. The two young men end up turning around and walking away briskly.
The soldiers are not happy with the presence of cameras. “It’s very hard for us to do this and you are making it difficult,” reproaches a non-commissioned officer.
The legionnaires also prevent journalists from talking to the people gathered on the beach. Every attempt to approach the group provokes new warnings to stop recording or keep distance, while the Army continues to defend that the returns happen “voluntarily.”
“Even those from here, many of whom were born there, are helping” with this, says one of the participants in the operation, as new groups escorted by soldiers arrive.
