On Saturday, Moroccan authorities ordered the Spanish public television crew from TVE and the news agency EFE to leave the city of Fnideq while they were covering developments related to migrants attempting to approach the border with Ceuta. The Spanish journalists were observing the intervention of Moroccan riot police as they dispersed hundreds of migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, who had gathered around Fnideq and were trying to advance towards the border. The authorities intervened to prevent them from reaching the border area.
The EFE agency reported that Youssef Haji, the local representative of the Ministry of Interior, informed the agency's correspondent of the need to leave Fnideq immediately, without providing any explanations for the decision, indicating that he was following "instructions." The agency's correspondent also confirmed that he witnessed the same official informing the crew from TVE of the same order.
According to a report from "El País," journalists were warned that their professional credentials and working equipment could be confiscated if they did not leave the city. Meanwhile, EFE stated that they had reached out to the Moroccan Ministry of Interior for clarification regarding the decision but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Additionally, the hotels where the EFE and TVE crews were staying were informed that local authorities had instructed them to vacate the accommodations immediately. This decision comes amid heightened security measures in Fnideq and the surrounding area of the border crossing, as Morocco has reinforced its measures to prevent new attempts at irregular migration towards Ceuta. At the same time, Spanish authorities had also prohibited the crew of Moroccan channel 2M from filming in the occupied city and confiscated their camera and filming equipment.
As reported by assahifa.com.
