After two days of extreme tension on the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, the situation now appears calmer: the Moroccan police stepped up in the last few hours, the containment of attempts by migrants to enter Spanish territory. However, many still seem willing to try, according to reports from the place.
And 5,600 migrants of the approximately 8,000 who arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta between the early hours of Monday and Tuesday have already returned to Morocco. This is what El País writes, citing sources from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. The figure includes those rejected after crossing the border irregularly and those who left Ceuta voluntarily.
“Today and tomorrow I am in Tunisia with the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese. The EU must work with partner countries to reduce irregular departures, manage migration and examine the causes, in particular the economic consequences of the pandemic “, said the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, su Twitter.
Europe “will not be intimidated by anyone” on the issue of migrants, said yesterday the vice president of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas interviewed by Spanish radio referring to the Ceuta affair. “Europe will not be the victim of tactics,” he added.
“We will not accept any kind of blackmail or that our territorial integrity is called into question“: it is Spain’s message to Morocco compared to the crisis in the enclave of Ceuta, where 8,000 migrants arrived in two days due to the lack of controls on the Moroccan side of the border. Defense Minister Margarita Robles told the Iberian media, adding that what happened was “an attack” on the border “not only of Spain, but also of the European Union”.
Several NGOs active in the migration field in Spain have expressed “concern” over the ‘express rejections’ implemented in response to the arrival of thousands of migrants in the Spanish enclave. “Many people are being sent back by virtue of an agreement between Spain and Morocco that allows express rejections, contrary to international law,” said a statement from the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission and other organizations. With the expression ‘express’ or ‘hot’ refoulement we mean those carried out without having first carried out processes of identification of migrants and administrative or legal procedures related to the specific case, for example to verify whether the person who crossed the border has the right to seek asylum. A ruling by the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled last year that these quick rejections are legal if done in a personalized way (with identification and compliance with the corresponding legal process, including the presence of a lawyer), explains the Newtral fact-checking platform.
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