Moroccan services stopped on Saturday 15 August 294 migrants trying to get to Spanish Ceuta and 61 Moroccans suspected of organising crossings. This is further evidence that the EU-Africa border remains a place of real pressure, and migration policy without hard control rapidly turns into a safety crisis.
Ceuta border under pressure
Moroccan state tv Medi 1 tv reported that 294 people from Sub-Saharan Africa were detained during attempts to enter Ceuta. According to the same reports, 61 Moroccans suspected of facilitating illegal attempts to cross the border were besides detained.
Ceuta is simply a Spanish autonomous city in northern Africa, and thus besides a land border of the European Union. It's not a distant image from the map. It is the laboratory of what happens erstwhile Europe sends conflicting signals over the years: it speaks erstwhile about control, another time about subsequent gateways and regularizations.
In the background there are calls on social media to mass attempts to enter Spanish territory. The fact that the network was heating the tension around the border again, DN already wrote in the text Ceuta before 15 August. The network heats force on the border again. erstwhile migration becomes a traffic controlled by gossip, videos and promise of an open gate, the state must act quickly. Otherwise, residents, servants, and migrants themselves, frequently put into dangerous trials, pay for it.
Spain and Morocco strengthen control
The Associated Press reports that after online calls for a fresh mass transition, the Moroccan and Spanish authorities increased the presence of services and reduced traffic towards the border area. Cadena SER reported that the operation covered the area of Fnideq, a city lying at the border with Ceuta, and controls were besides maintained on roads from Tetouanu and Tanger.
This shows a simple truth: there is no limit due to the fact that it is drawn on the map, but due to the fact that the state is ready to defender it. Without services, procedures and political will, there is simply a declaration. And the declaration won't halt any smugglers or chaos.
The function of Morocco is besides important. Spain and the full European Union are in fact dependent on whether Rabat will keep force on its side. It's an uncomfortable arrangement, but in migration policy, convenience has long ceased to be a criterion. Border safety and predictability are important.
Two weeks after the fatal crisis
New detentions occurred 2 weeks after the dramatic migration crisis in the Ceuta area. According to the AP, at least 90 people were killed on both sides of the border and human rights organisations spoke of higher numbers. Al Jazeera besides reported on thousands of people who remained in Ceuta after the earlier wave under hard conditions.
This dimension needs to be said fairly. Illegal migration is not just a problem for host countries. It is besides a tragedy of people who frequently follow false promises and fall into the hands of intermediaries, political games or chaos. The criticism of open door policies does not require contempt for man. On the contrary, it requires realism, due to the fact that only realism reduces the number of victims.
For Europe, conclusions are hard. If the border of Ceuta after 1 wave again becomes the mark of another, then the call for solidarity alone is not enough. Clear rules are needed, effective return, combating the organisers of crossings and the end of signals that encourage the hazard of life.
Lesson for Poland too
Poland is not on the Strait of Gibraltar, but the stakes are well known to us. Migration force can be humanitarian, economic, political and hybrid. We saw it on our east border, the Spaniards in Ceuta see it.
Therefore, all crisis at the external border of the Union should besides be read in Warsaw. Not to copy another people's mistakes, but to avoid them. erstwhile DN described that Morocco claimed it warned Spain of the crisis, the point was clear: on border issues, the consequence to the crisis is important, not conferences after the fact.
The Polish national interest requires 1 thing: the state must hold control of who crosses the border and under what conditions. Without this, there is no sovereignty, safety or assurance of citizens in their own institutions.
Source: Interia Events, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Cadena SER
Source: Interia Events
