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| - Brussels on Tuesday urged Morocco to stop the irregular entry of migrants into Spain's Ceuta enclave in the north African country after 6,000 crossed into it. The migrants began flowing into Ceuta on Monday, many of them swimming and crossing by foot at low tide along the coastline from Moroccan territory. A smaller number, 86 migrants, made it into Melilla, Spain's other enclave in Morocco. "Spain's borders are the European Union's borders," European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted in Spanish, as he voiced solidarity with Madrid. The EU commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, told the European Parliament the migrant arrivals in Ceuta were "unprecedented" and "worrying", and noted "a very substantial number of them (are) children". "The most important thing now is that Morocco continues to commit to prevent irregular departures, and that those that do not have the right to stay are orderly and effectively returned," she said. She also stressed that "Spanish borders are European borders". Spain said Tuesday it has returned 1,500 of the 6,000 migrants. The arrivals are happening at a time of high diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat, after Spain extended medical treatment to the leader of the Polisario Front, a movement fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara that Morocco claims as its own. Johansson said "the European Union wants to build a relationship with Morocco based on trust and shared commitments. Migration is a key element in this regard." She said that she and the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, were in contact with Spanish authorities over the developments. Michel tweeted that "cooperation, trust and shared commitments should be the principles of a strong relation between the European Union and Morocco". rmb/arp/nrh
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