IT WAS LIKE a tide surging onto the beach and then ebbing, leaving wreckage behind. The vast majority of the tens of thousands of would-be migrants who began rushing into Ceuta, a small Spanish exclave on the north African coast, on July 30th returned to Morocco within 24 hours, having found nothing to eat and no prospect of reaching Europe.(数万名潜在移民中的绝大多数在7月30日涌入休达后，因找不到食物和没有到达欧洲的希望，在24小时内返回了摩洛哥。) Discarded shoes and shirts still litter(乱扔，使杂乱) the bay. A few thousand migrants remain, mainly sub-Saharan(撒哈拉以南的，指非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地区) Africans and minors, as does a heavy police presence. Yet though the immediate crisis is over, the clash it triggered in the European Union will leave scars.
这就像一股潮水涌上沙滩，然后退去，留下残骸。7月30日，数万名潜在移民开始涌入休达——西班牙位于北非海岸的小块飞地，其中绝大多数在24小时内返回了摩洛哥，因为他们找不到食物，也没有到达欧洲的希望。被丢弃的鞋子和衬衫仍散落在海湾。仍有数千名移民滞留，主要是撒哈拉以南非洲人和未成年人，同时还有大量警力。然而，尽管眼前的危机已经结束，但它在欧盟内部引发的冲突将留下伤痕。
The surge almost doubled Ceuta’s population of 84,000, briefly overwhelming(压倒性的，使不堪重负) the town. At least 141 migrants drowned trying to swim around the breakwater(防波堤，用于阻挡海浪的建筑物) at the main crossing-point from Morocco. Far-right agitators(煽动者，鼓动者) from Europe, several of whom flocked to the exclave, inflamed the situation with videos warning of “ethnic replacement(种族替代，极右翼使用的阴谋论术语)”. Elon Musk and J.D. Vance, America’s vice-president, joined the fray(加入争吵或战斗). Yet as alarm spread the crisis was abating(减弱，减退). On August 4th Spain’s interior minister said that 70,000 of the 72,000 who entered Ceuta had returned to Morocco. Some 1,100 unaccompanied minors(无人陪伴的未成年人) are to be transferred to Spain.
这次涌入几乎使休达8.4万的人口翻了一番，使该镇一度不堪重负。至少有141名移民在试图绕过摩洛哥主要过境点的防波堤时溺水身亡。来自欧洲的极右翼煽动者，其中几人涌向这块飞地，用警告“种族替代”的视频加剧了局势。埃隆·马斯克和美国副总统J.D.万斯也加入了争吵。然而，随着恐慌蔓延，危机正在消退。8月4日，西班牙内政部长表示，进入休达的7.2万人中有7万人已返回摩洛哥。约1100名无人陪伴的未成年人将被转移到西班牙。
Not all the factors behind the surge are clear. A recent ruling(裁决，裁定) by Spain’s Supreme Court, which excluded migrants arriving by sea from rules allowing border pushbacks(边境推回，指将移民推回原国的做法), played a role. Migrants still in the exclave attest(证明，证实) that word of this got around(传播，流传) on social media. “The Spanish government is easier for migration” than others in Europe, claims Asif, who says he travelled 20 days from Sudan before joining the surge. Some see the hand of Morocco itself. There is plenty of evidence that border guards stopped intercepting(拦截，阻止) the migrants or even helped them on their way—before co-operating in their repatriation(遣返，遣送回国).
并非所有涌入背后的因素都清楚。西班牙最高法院最近的一项裁决，将乘船抵达的移民排除在允许边境推回的规定之外，起了一定作用。仍在该飞地的移民证实，这一消息在社交媒体上流传开来。阿西夫声称：“西班牙政府比欧洲其他国家更容易移民。”他说他从苏丹旅行了20天才加入这次涌入。一些人看到了摩洛哥本身的影子。有大量证据表明，边境警卫停止拦截移民，甚至在他们途中提供帮助——之后又配合遣返他们。
