«We have it under control», one hears politicians and prominent opinion-makers squawk during the Ceuta invasion. It is the usual torrent of words: Europe’s borders are breached, thousands of illegal migrants pour in, and assurances are given that the problem has been dealt with, while thousands of illegal migrants remain, commit serious crimes and naturally have no intention of leaving Europe again.
Ceuta is the small example that reveals the bigger picture. The same false hope and deception and gaslighting – the same lies are served up to the public.
The truth is that in the past few days alone, illegal migrants in Ceuta have surrounded a military vehicle and pelted it with stones until four soldiers had to flee on foot. Some of the attackers pursued them. Hundreds of locals have tried to prevent the Red Cross’s own volunteers from distributing food to the migrants. Afterwards, furious demonstrators set fire to the migrants’ makeshift dwellings.
Around 8,000 illegal migrants are still in Ceuta. Berlingske writes of an «inferno of violence» that threatens. «Spain went from welcoming immigrants and granting a broad amnesty to illegal immigrants, to rubber bullets and thousands sleeping on the beaches», as one observer has put it.
Ceuta has never been under control. But listen to what we have been told:
«The opposition [Danish People’s Party] is helping to whip up the mood, and that is why I say that one must take a deep breath and look at what the facts are, and that the situation is in fact under control», says Morten Brautsch, the Moderates’ foreign affairs spokesman.
Pelle Dragsted of the Red-Green Alliance believes that the Ceuta crisis is being blown up and out of proportion: «It only takes a few hours before Putin’s troll army, Trump and the MAGA movement begin spreading misinformation».
Spain has handled the migrant crisis in Ceuta quickly and effectively, says professor of EU politics Marlene Wind. She believes that the political reactions are hysterical.
Wednesday’s demonstration against migrants in Ceuta ended with police having to prevent several attempts to assault people whom the demonstrators believed to be Moroccan migrants. A man accused of being a Moroccan spy avoided being beaten up by seeking refuge in a bakery until the police arrived.
This is how a society under pressure from assaults, rapes and robberies reacts. A wounded animal bites back if one gets too close. Neighbours, journalists, an entire minority – all can suddenly become the object of the anger that was originally directed at a political crisis.
One understands the anger when one reads about the horrors in Ceuta.
There are now to be security guards at the city’s schools. The National Police, the local police and the army are all to be involved in the task. That is how serious illegal immigration is for the inhabitants of Ceuta. At the same time, the ministry is introducing psychological support for pupils and their families.
No government deploys the army to guard routes to school and introduces crisis psychologists for children because the situation is «under control».
No, the politicians’ and professors’ «reassurances» cannot bear the weight of the actual circumstances. Ceuta is a concentrated picture of a familiar pattern: The population is assured that concern about immigration is exaggerated or simply manipulated from abroad, until reality nevertheless comes knocking at the door with stones, fire and armed escorts for schoolchildren.
May we be spared that bouquet of mendacious rhetoric that is handed to us time and again.
