On August 1, 2003, African immigrants lay drowned on the beaches of Fuerteventura, the closest island to the African coast in the Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco.

　　On August 1, 2003, African immigrants lay drowned on the shores of Fuerteventura, one of the Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco; on July 31, six African immigrants drowned when their flimsy boat ran aground, and 15 others were lost when their boat capsized six miles offshore. The other 15 were lost after their boat capsized six miles offshore. Fuerteventura is the closest of the Canary Islands to the African coast. Human traffickers routinely traveled to this coast from southern Morocco's landing sites to pack passenger migrants into overloaded boats.

　　Spain's Interior Ministry announced that it had found the bodies of 11 migrants who swam from Morocco to the Spanish coast and drowned. The bodies were found on the Tarajal beach in Ceuta, according to officials. The African migrants had attempted to swim from the Moroccan coast to Spain. Spanish media and human rights groups reported that police opened fire on the African migrants as they swam in the sea. The security guard general claimed that the security forces fired into the air, stating that the officers used rubber bullets to stop the African migrants.

　Security forces officers fired rubber bullets, blanks, and tear gas shells to stop African immigrants from swimming to Talaha Beach in Ceuta, where 12 of them drowned. The firing prevented migrants in the water from reaching land, including those clinging to unstable floats. First the government representative, then the head of the security forces denied it. The Minister of the Interior admitted in Parliament that riot gear was in fact used at sea to quell the riots. The intention was to terrorize the migrants and force them to swim back to the Moroccan coast. Rubber bullets, blanks that sounded exactly like real bullets, and people who desperately searched the beaches drowned in fear and panic.

　Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa aimed to reach Europe. Many migrants stayed at campsites near the Moroccan-Algerian border. Upon arrival in Morocco, they were subjected to abuses without security. Moroccan police documented cases where migrants were beaten, deprived of what little property they had, burned down shelters, and expelled from Morocco. According to the migrants' statements, abuse of sub-Saharan Africans is common in Morocco. The introduction of the Moroccan Immigration Law (Law 2002-2003) was in response to EU pressure for tighter immigration controls in Morocco.