Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the tens of thousands who have flooded into Ceuta and Melilla in recent days have violated Spanish sovereignty. That statement seems a little late in the day, given the sequence of events. The head of the police association says there is chaos on the ground. He speaks of total collapse.
“The situation is utter chaos,” says Rachid Sbihi, head of the police association of the Guardia Civil in Ceuta, which is responsible for border control.
According to Sbihi, the border has ‘completely collapsed’, resulting in what he describes as ‘a serious humanitarian crisis’.
– People are still getting through. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured,” he told the AP earlier on Friday.
The Moroccan authorities have not commented on the influx. According to journalists, they bear a heavy responsibility.
Journalist Ignacio Cembrero, who specialises in migration in North Africa, believes Moroccan security forces have been passive bystanders.
“To reach the breakwater that marks the border between Ceuta and Morocco, you have to pass through several police checkpoints. It is clear that they have been allowed through; otherwise, this would not have happened,” he says.
King Mohammed VI granted amnesty to 1,700 prisoners to mark the King’s name day. There is speculation that these prisoners have been ferried across to Spanish territory, thereby ridding Morocco of the problem. In Latin and Central America, the authorities followed the same policy: they emptied prisons and asylum centres and sent them north.
Sánchez and the Minister of the Interior visited Ceuta on Friday. Sánchez must take responsibility for the explosive influx. He has promised amnesty to migrants on Spanish soil. In addition, there has been a relaxation of the rules by the Supreme Court.
The authorities in Ceuta have linked last week’s increase to a ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court earlier in July. The ruling states that migrants arriving by sea cannot be immediately pushed back across the border. This is in contrast to those arriving in Spain via land borders. (NTB)
Sánchez blames people smugglers.
– “They mislead so many young people, which ultimately results in the deaths of many of them,” he said.
“The Spanish authorities stand with Ceuta,” he added.
But you cannot blame criminals for being criminals.
Other European prime ministers are reacting to the invasion of Ceuta and Melilla and Madrid’s delayed response. Sánchez has suffered a serious blow to his prestige.
French President Emmanuel Macron says they stand ready to assist Spain if necessary, both at the border and through the coastguard.
Controls at the country’s border with Spain will now be stepped up, and a special unit will carry out thorough checks on everyone arriving.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is demanding that Morocco take back everyone who fled across the border to Ceuta.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen believes the EU should consider suspending Spain from the Schengen Agreement. So does Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani.
“Illegal and uncontrolled immigration poses a threat to national security,” he writes on X. (NTB)
This was not what the EU needed after it adopted a new immigration law.
