Rock thrown at Rebel journalists covering Spain’s migrant crisis

Rock thrown at Rebel journalists covering Spain’s migrant crisis

Breaking News, World News, US News, Sports

 

Rebel News reporter Alexa Lavoie and producer Efrain Flores Monsanto travelled to Ceuta — the Spanish enclave on the North African coast — to do***ent what happened when an estimated 60,000 illegal border crossers arrived in a matter of days.

The situation on the ground was unlike anything a typical mainstream media news crew would show you. Migrants were filmed jumping out of military convoys as Spanish soldiers attempted to transport them back to the Moroccan border. Many fled into the surrounding hills, where they remained hidden overnight.

Others camped openly on the beachfront rocks days after the initial mblock crossing. In Ceuta’s tourist district, three illegal migrants stopped a military truck to beg soldiers for food. The military response was minimal.

Alexa entered one of Ceuta’s migrant facilities, where hundreds of border crossers from across Africa were waiting for state-funded services. She conducted exclusive interviews asking how far into Europe they planned to travel.

At the land border between Morocco and Ceuta, she interviewed migrants about how the crossing had unfolded. One told her that Moroccan police didn’t merely permit the crossing — they actively encouraged it. “Go, go, go to Ceuta,” he said the officers had told people.

Rebel News’ exclusive reporting came with risks, however.

While interviewing Moroccan migrants near the border, a rock was thrown directly at Alexa from individuals watching from above. These attempts at intimidation, she said, would not stop her reports.

Meanwhile, remigration activists from Save Europe Action staged a peaceful act of civil disobedience at the port entry in Algeciras, blockading the crossing to call on European governments to begin remigration.

Outside Ceuta’s overrun temporary reception centre at Playa Del Trampolín, African border crossers held signs reading “ASILO” — asylum.

Full on-the-ground interviews and reports from Alexa Lavoie and Efrain Monsanto’s coverage of Spain’s migrant crisis will be published in the coming days.


Breaking News, World News, US News, Sports

Source link

Leave a Reply