NewzSpain has condemned the “selfish, polarising and unlawful” reaction of some EU countries to the influx of about 60,000 migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Spanish officials say almost all those who reached Ceuta on 30 July have returned, while Spain’s interior minister said on Saturday that the death toll from the surge in crossings had risen to at least 67. Italy temporarily suspended the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangement with Spain, as PM Giorgia Meloni called the scenes “shocking”.
Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s move, while Czech PM Andrej Babiš urged a temporary suspension of Spain’s Schengen membership. EU interior ministers will meet on Tuesday by video conference to discuss the issue. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had called for an urgent meeting to “reaffirm that the security of our external borders is a shared responsibility of all Member States”.
Twenty-two of the EU’s 27 countries also called for emergency talks in an open letter, citing “serious concerns” regarding the developments in Ceuta. The nations “welcome that Spain and Morocco are cooperating closely to ensure the swift return of migrants”, but said a video conference would help reach agreement on mobilising EU instruments and support for Spain to restore “effective control” of the border and prevent further uncontrolled crossings. In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he had “serious concerns” about some European governments.
He said the Spanish government had fully restored control over the border and prevented any “unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe” in less than 48 hours. While most had shown “support and solidarity”, Sanchez said other European governments had chosen to attack Spain, “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest”, and pointed out that Ceuta was not part of the Schengen area. “The European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” he said.
Also on Saturday, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he had spoken to Sánchez and the UK was “providing what help we can”. Spain says it has fully regained control of its border following the mass crossings into CeutaThere were chaotic scenes on Thursday in Ceuta as border controls in the North African enclave apparently broke down. CEUTA, Spain (AP) — Spain on Saturday installed a 500-meter-long (1,600-foot) barrier on the sea border between its North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco after tens of thousands of migrants breached the frontier earlier in the week.At least 67 migrants died, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, the Spanish government said Saturday.
The sudden arrival of 50,000 to 60,000 migrants in the territory between Thursday and Friday sparked a humanitarian crisis and reignited the immigration debate in Europe and beyond, though most of the migrants soon went back.Critics of Spain’s socialist government, notably right and far-right politicians, seized upon the dramatic images of crowds storming into Ceuta, which sits on the Strait of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and has been a Spanish possession since 1580. Spain’s migration policy has focused on granting legal status to workers lacking authorization to boost its economy, in contrast with anti-migration and pro-deportation policies being promoted across much of the EU and in the U.S.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez slammed the reaction of some EU leaders to the events in Ceuta, saying calls for Spain to be suspended from the EU's borderless Schengen zone were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.” Despite the Ceuta crisis, Spain in recent years has had fewer illegal migrants than Mediterranean neighbors Italy and Greece.On Saturday morning, a handful of migrants who swam to Ceuta's urban Tarajal beach were met by soldiers who escorted them across the border.“We are relentless against those who break the law,” Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told journalists.Asked how the breach could have happened given the heavy security on both sides of the border and whether Morocco posed a threat to Ceuta, Marlaska defended the government in Rabat.“The events require an evaluation by Spain and Morocco,” he said. But it was the cooperation with its neighbors that allowed Spain “to revert the situation in 24 hours.”“Morocco is not a threat to Ceuta, or to the rest of Spain.
Summary from source