Vatican city: Pope Leo on Sunday (August 2), during his weekly Angelus prayer from the window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, appealed for peaceful solutions to the situation in Ceuta, Spain, where according to Spanish authorities, about 50,000 people from Morocco had crossed into the Spanish enclave in North Africa from Thursday (July 30).
The pontiff called the situation "alarming" and said he hoped that "solutions promoting peace, stability, and justice may be found".
The sudden surge of migration at one of the European Union's only land borders with Africa is unprecedented. Spain said that more than 48,000 of the migrants returned to Morocco within 48 hours. At least 67 bodies have been recovered on the Spanish side of the frontier, officials said, after some migrants drowned and others were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater and border fence.