About 49,000 migrants made their way from Morocco to Spanish Ceuta in 1 day. The crisis brought death to tens of people and paralyzed a city of about 84,000 inhabitants. This is simply a painful evidence to the price people pay erstwhile the state loses control of the border.
Border broken in 24 hours
The Spanish Interior Ministry estimated that around 49 000 migrants crossed the Ceuta border within 24 hours. People reached the Spanish exclave from Morocco by land and sea. The influx scale was unprecedented. For a city with about 84,000 inhabitants, it marked a abrupt increase in the number of people there by more than half.
Authorities have sent troops, police and the civilian defender to Ceuta. According to later data, most people who crossed the border returned to Morocco. The situation began to calm down, but residents did not immediately regain average surviving conditions, and the servants continued to safe the area.
Tens of Victims
The crisis has a tragic balance. The Associated Press reported on 1 August, citing the Spanish government that 67 people had died. any drowned while trying to scope Ceuta, others died in a crowd at the border barrier. Each of these deaths requires seriousness. The people taking the crossing were exposed to the sea, compression and chaos.
This tragedy must not be brought to political spectacles or treated as a nameless mass. It would besides be irresponsible to ignore the fact that the deficiency of effective border control creates conditions in which people are killed, the services are overloaded, and the safety of residents is deteriorating rapidly. The state has a work to defend both: human life and its own frontier.
Madrid did not recognise the threat
The Spanish government acknowledged that it did not anticipate the magnitude of the crisis. Earlier reports of the civilian defender indicated an expanding number of attempts to enter Ceuta's floods. Despite these signals, the authorities did not prepare forces corresponding to the scale of the threat. erstwhile the influx increased rapidly, the actions were already lifesaving.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke of a breach of the territorial integrity of Spain and pointed to the activities of human smugglers. Madrid besides announced an additional barrier at the sea section of the border. These actions are needed, but they are taken after a disaster, the magnitude of which has exposed earlier negligence. Borders don't defend themselves with declarations. Recognition, physical safeguards, efficient return procedures and permanent cooperation with the Moroccan side are needed.
Lesson for Poland and Europe
Ceuta lies at the external border of the European Union, which is why the events in this city concern Europe as a whole. Freedom of movement within the Schengen area can only proceed if countries are effectively guarding the external borders. If they do not comply with this obligation, the costs shall besides be borne by their neighbours.
For Poland the rate is clear. Our border with Belarus remains the mark of hybrid pressure, and Ceuta's experience shows how rapidly a local problem can turn into a state crisis. Humanitarian aid and the protection of life must go with hard entry control. Those who cross the border of the Republic are to decide Polish services and Polish law, not smugglers, abroad authorities or ideological pressure.
The tragedy in Ceuta should make European governments accountable before any more victims occur. A tight line is not a denial of humanity. It is simply a condition of order, the safety of residents and the protection of people from deadly dangerous crossings.
Source: Radio Maryja
