Buried without names: 90 of 96 dead from Ceuta border disaster remain unidentified

Migrants who died trying to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have begun to be buried without their identities confirmed. The disaster, triggered when roughly 80,000 people attempted to cross the border at once late last month, left 96 dead — 90 of whom remain unidentified.

According to Euronews, a burial ceremony was held Friday at a Muslim cemetery in Ceuta, where 18 victims were laid to rest with prayers led by an Islamic cleric. All of those interred were male, and none had been identified.

Cemetery officials plan to bury an additional 70 or so bodies at a rate of 10 to 12 per day. In place of names, each grave has been marked with an identification number in case relatives come to claim the remains.

The disaster unfolded late last month when roughly 80,000 migrants surged toward the border between Morocco and Ceuta simultaneously. A total of 96 people were killed — 82 in Ceuta and 14 in Morocco. Many drowned or were crushed by the crowd while attempting to scale a breakwater near the border crossing.

Of the dead, only six Moroccan men have been identified. The names and origins of the remaining 90 are still unknown.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights called on authorities, as burials got underway, to hand over the bodies to their families "so they can be given a dignified funeral." The Ceuta regional government said it had completed the procedures needed to transfer the remains to Morocco, but that the Moroccan government had refused to accept them.

Thousands of migrants remain in Ceuta in the aftermath of the disaster, living in makeshift shelters cobbled together from plastic bags and other materials. The Spanish government has set up temporary facilities and begun clearing Tarajal Beach, where many migrants have congregated, but a significant number who entered government shelters have returned to their improvised dwellings out of fear of being deported to Morocco.

Smuggling networks have also moved to exploit the chaos. Spanish police arrested five people-smuggling brokers in Ceuta and on the Spanish mainland across the Strait of Gibraltar. The brokers were found to have charged migrants 8,000 euros ($9,350) per person to ferry them by boat to the mainland.