EU scrambles as massive migrant surge overwhelms Spain’s Ceuta

Madrid blames trafficking networks while Morocco strengthens border enforcement

AFP | Ceuta

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The European Union yesterday scrambled to contain one of the largest migrant crises faced by the block in recent years, after tens of thousands of people poured into Spain's enclave in North Africa in just days.

Some 60,000 migrants have crossed into the territory from Morocco, the local regional president Juan Jesus Vivas told reporters. Many swam around a small border barrier that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea, with 34 people dying in the attempt.

The sudden massive influx has sparked an international crisis for Spain's government, drawing criticism from Germany, Italy and Finland and prompting France to tighten checks on its border with Spain.

Madrid has sent troops, more police, including divers, drones and boats, to boost security in Ceuta. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his interior minister rushed to the enclave yesterday.

Yesterday, Spain's interior minister said that 25,000 people who had crossed had voluntarily returned to Morocco.

AFP reporters have seen hundreds of people -- men, women and children -- entering Ceuta, discarding flotation rings and clothes used in the risky passage.

Yesterday, hundreds of migrants, mostly young men, were hanging around on the Morocco side of the border while others were seen turning back, saying "there are too many people here".

"It's catastrophic," said Mohammed, a local taxi driver and Ceuta resident. "Sure, we sympathise with them -- they're having a terrible time in their own country, and all that -- but this isn't the way to enter a place, nor is it a way to live."

It was not immediately clear what prompted this surge of migrants from Morocco. Some previous surges have occurred during tensions between Spain and Morocco.

Sanchez visited Algiers on July 20 -- the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years -- marking a thaw in relations with Morocco's rival Algeria, but it was not clear if this visit was related to the influx.

Sanchez, in Ceuta, blamed the sudden inflow on people-traffickers spreading rumours about a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that irregular migrants arriving by sea cannot be immediately returned.

"What has emerged from our talks with Moroccan authorities is that trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling," he said. That interpretation "spread like wildfire in recent hours."

Diplomatic fallout

Scenes of the crowds of people surging into a member of the European Union, which normally does not enforce border controls between members, sparked diplomatic fallout.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on social media, called the scenes at Ceuta "unacceptable", adding: "We cannot allow anyone to come to our (European) Union without abiding by our rules."

Italy on Thursday called for Spain to be suspended from Europe's open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy's ambassador and accuse Rome of using the crisis for political gain.

Finland and Denmark yesterday backed Italy's call, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz demanded that Morocco "take back illegal migrants immediately".