Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Around 60,000 young people—by later accounts as many as 72,000—crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, climbing fences and swimming across. Many later returned to Morocco, a large share of them voluntarily, while thousands (roughly 3,000–5,000) remained; later reporting counted 862 minors still there—numbers that sit awkwardly against the "nearly all sent back" story. The legal status of many who crossed, including asylum seekers and minors, was not established, so the blanket label "illegal immigrants" is not confirmed for everyone.

The dramatic footage—crowds vaulting fences and coming ashore—collided with that headline and drew skepticism ("thousands are still there, so is it really 'nearly all'?"). The story got bundled with a domestic case: a Nepalese man was arrested in Kiyama, Saga, for overstaying after a tip that a foreigner was living in a shrine. Together they pulled the conversation toward Japan's own borders, with a widely shared "moral hazard" argument that tolerating illegal entry makes fools of those who follow the rules.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Doubt about "nearly all sent back" — With thousands still there, can the return really be called "nearly all"?
  • Moral-hazard argument — Tolerating illegal migration penalizes those who follow procedure and erodes order.
  • Linking to domestic overstay — Tied to the Saga shrine case, a push for Japan to enforce border controls and removals more strictly.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

The mass crossing into Spain's Ceuta and the returns

After around 60,000 rushed into Ceuta and many returned, doubt over "nearly all sent back" collided with moral-hazard arguments.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Can you really call it 'nearly all' when 60,000 rushed in and 3,000–5,000 are still there?"
  • "Wait, wasn't it legal?"
  • "If you accept illegal immigrants, the people who follow procedure and wait their turn look like fools—that's a moral hazard."
  • "It's basically an enclave, not mainland Spain, so I didn't get what crossing over even achieves."
  • "Wasn't the deportation illegal? They have to abide by the Supreme Court ruling."
  • "It's like a cautionary example of what happens when you let illegal immigrants live there legally."
  • "Ceuta's population is about 80,000; if they were serious they could take it over easily."
  • "How did they even send back 60,000 people?"
  • "Of course—when people form a crowd their mood goes haywire and they might even stage an armed uprising."
  • "The people who drowned along the way died completely in vain. There's talk that money is coming from somewhere behind this, right?"
  • "There was even an article about legalizing illegal immigrants... don't discriminate against the legalized migrants, apparently."

A Nepalese man arrested for overstaying at a Saga shrine

A tip that a foreigner was living at a shrine in Kiyama led to a Nepalese man's arrest for overstaying, drawing attention to domestic enforcement.

Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "A shrine isn't a vacant house, you know?"
  • "If they'd reported it to immigration they could've gotten 50,000 yen, no? What a waste."
  • "If he's settled into a shrine, doesn't that make him a god at this point?"
  • "Good thing they caught him before it got burned down to destroy evidence."
  • "I guess this is normal, but what's with people living ordinary lives even while overstaying illegally?"
  • "The countryside has watchful eyes, after all."
  • "The bar association will probably defend him."
  • "How was he even getting food?"
  • "Maybe it was an unmanaged, unattended shrine? Like there was a small hall you could bed down in, just enough to keep off the rain and dew."
  • "Why has it come to this—who's at fault?"
  • "What's he trying to do settling in a place like that—he'd be better off going home."