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Ceuta border breach
European Union interior ministers are set to hold an emergency video conference Tuesday after 22 of the bloc’s 27 member states demanded an urgent coordinated response to the mass crossing of migrants into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta.
“European Union interior ministers will convene an emergency video conference Tuesday”
The letter, initiated by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, warned that allowing the perception of possible illegal entry into the EU to take hold would “encourage further attempts, undermine confidence in our common migration policy and have repercussions for all Member States.”
Spain’s interior ministry said nearly all of the roughly 60,000 migrants who breached the border since Wednesday had since returned, and that the situation in Ceuta was nearly back to normal.
EU foreign policy chief Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged the gravity of the situation while noting that “not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU” during the influx.
The Tuesday meeting will be the EU’s first formal ministerial response to what European officials described as urgency not heard in Brussels since earlier migration crises reshaped the continent’s politics.
Deaths and emergency talks
Spain said “virtually all” of the estimated 60,000 migrants who stormed Ceuta by land and sea had already left again voluntarily, while Spanish officials raised the number of people who died trying to enter Ceuta to at least 67 on Saturday.
The Guardian reported that Spain confirmed at least 67 people had died in the attempted crossing, with some drowned and others crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.
Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it had convened a meeting of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council chaired by Irish Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Minister Jim O’Callaghan, and that ministers would meet Tuesday to discuss developments in Ceuta.
In a statement reported by the BBC, Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter said the government would launch an immediate investigation into the Narayanganj factory fire, but for Ceuta the EU focus was on coordinating a response to prevent further uncontrolled crossings.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Ceuta and described the mass crossing as “a violation of Spain’s territorial sovereignty,” while Ceuta’s Juan Jesús Vivas said the situation had not yet returned to normal and called for security measures to remain in place.
Barriers, Schengen pressure
As crossings stopped overnight, Spain said police began installing a 500-metre floating barrier off its border with Morocco, with the Civil Guard starting laying the new barrier at 7.50am local time on the Tarajal breakwater.
“police began installing a 500-metre floating barrier off its border with Morocco”
RTE.ie described the pneumatic barrier as designed to stand 30 to 70 centimetres above water and extend as much as one metre below the surface, while a channel between the barriers would allow Civil Guard vessels to patrol the area.
The Guardian said Italy and Denmark used the Saturday meeting to criticise Spain, and it reported that Italy announced on Friday evening it would suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain for a month.
In response to the EU dispute, von der Leyen said the situation showed the importance of controlling Europe’s borders and that “We have a strong system in place. But it needs to be further strengthened,” while also calling for “a lessons learned process to improve our European resilience.”
The Telegraph reported Western intelligence sources suspect Morocco “facilitated the sudden influx of 60,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta,” and it said the scenes plunged Europe into crisis as leaders threatened to freeze Spain out of free movement and impose border controls.
