BRUSSELS, AUG 4: EU interior ministers on Tuesday called for tougher action against migrant smuggling networks and stronger returns policies after about 72,000 migrants entered Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta last week, triggering alarm across the bloc.
The ministers also urged closer cooperation with countries outside the European Union to curb irregular migration and prevent a repeat of the surge, which began on Thursday at one of the bloc’s two land borders with Africa, both shared with Morocco.
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About 75 migrants died attempting the crossing, with many drowning and others crushed in the chaos.
European Commissioner Magnus Brunner told a news conference after an emergency meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers that the influx had been fueled by criminal smuggling networks and disinformation on social media.
He declined to say whether Morocco bore any responsibility but praised Rabat’s cooperation with Spanish authorities on returns.
“There is an ongoing investigation of the matter (Morocco’s role in the massive break) in Spain. So I … can’t actually comment on that any further but there was of course some disinformation by the smugglers and the human traffickers, that’s what we know for sure,” he said.
The surge prompted ministers to discuss a range of measures, including better intelligence-sharing, closer monitoring of social media to detect migration surges earlier, and stronger protection of the EU’s external borders.
Some analysts have questioned whether Moroccan authorities turned a blind eye to the crossings, noting previous occasions when Rabat was accused of using migration as political leverage.
The last major surge occurred in May 2021, when Moroccan authorities appeared to relax border controls, a move widely interpreted as retaliation for Spain’s hosting of a Western Sahara independence leader. The territory is disputed, with Morocco claiming sovereignty over it.
Brunner also said the EU was negotiating a strategic comprehensive partnership agreement with Morocco.
The EU has increasingly relied on migration agreements with North African countries to curb irregular arrivals, but critics say the approach leaves the bloc vulnerable to pressure from transit countries that can ease, or threaten to ease, border controls in pursuit of political or economic concessions.
Migration has been one of the EU’s most divisive political issues since a 2015-16 crisis, when more than a million refugees and migrants, many fleeing war in Syria, arrived in Europe.
The influx boosted support for anti-immigration and far-right parties across the bloc and intensified years of disputes over border controls, asylum rules and burden-sharing.
Morocco said on Sunday that recent mass crossings into Ceuta and another Spanish enclave, Melilla, were fueled by misinformation on social media, human trafficking networks and misinterpretations of a Spanish court ruling.
Most migrants who crossed the border barrier found neither food nor shelter, and later returned to Morocco.
Nevertheless, Italy suspended passport-free Schengen travel arrangements with Spain for a month, even though they do not apply to Ceuta, while 22 of the EU’s 27 member states urged coordinated action to strengthen the bloc’s external borders.
Calls for tougher measures
Denmark and Italy used the emergency talks to press for tougher migration measures, according to government statements.
Danish Immigration Minister Morten Bodskov called for increased EU funding for border security, saying: “We will not accept a repeat of the situation in 2015.”
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi urged the bloc to adopt “new hub models for the external processing of asylum procedures and for returns in safe third countries.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is seeking an EU emergency migration mechanism that would allow accelerated procedures and, in exceptional circumstances, the temporary suspension of asylum registrations during sudden mass arrivals, he wrote in a Politico opinion piece published on Tuesday.
Lost amid the political debate are the migrants themselves, many fleeing poverty, conflict or instability and risking dangerous journeys in search of safety or opportunity.
