Spanish City Overwhelmed by Moroccan Migrant Influx Pleads For Help From European Union

The head of a small autonomous city belonging to Spain but bordering Morocco is asking the European Union for more security personnel and money to build border infrastructure after being overwhelmed by a massive wave of illegal migrant crossings this summer.Speaking at Brussels Tuesday to members of the European Parliament, Ceuta’s regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, asked for a larger European Union Agency for Asylum presence on the northern coast peninsula of Africa and permanent deployment of personnel from European border agency Frontex. “Ceuta is currently a pressure cooker which can explode at any minute,” Mr. Vivas told reporters at a press conference at the European Parliament. “We are at the limit of our possibilities. We are on the brink of the abyss, of collapse.”Mr. Vivas said that the European Union bloc should recognize Ceuta and Spain’s other enclave in Morocco, Melilla, as unique zones due to their being Europe’s only land borders with Africa. “We need special treatment, which can be a lever to ensure stability, security, and the prosperity of Ceuta and Melilla,” Mr. Vivas said.Thousands of migrants this summer have overwhelmed police and local resources in the seven-square-mile coastal enclave. Up to 80,000 migrants flooded into the enclave over a two-day period at the end of July after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants who reach Spanish territory without passing through any barrier could not be deported without a legal procedure.An estimated 141 people died in Spain and Morocco in the July incident as thousands of migrants attempted to reach beaches by sea, either in small boats or simply swimming.An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 migrants remain in the enclave. Mr. Vivas suggested that the European Union should not continue unconditional cooperation with Morocco unless it works to stem the flow of migrants attempting to reach Ceuta and Melilla.A Spanish police report blamed Morocco for allowing the migrants to flood the town, saying Moroccan security forces showed “total permissiveness” for the border surge. Spain’s national court has ordered a criminal investigation into July’s mass event.Spain’s neighbors have also been alarmed by the migrant crisis and some have suggested that the country be suspended or expelled from the European Union’s Schengen zone, which allows free passage among member countries without visas or passport checks.A majority of Spaniards blame Morocco for the surge, but also say Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez mishandled the crisis. A poll released Monday showed growing support for the far-right, anti-immigration Vox Party over Mr. Sanchez’s Socialist Workers Party. The polling indicates that Vox could align with the conservative People’s Party to reach a ruling majority after next year’s elections.

Spanish City Overwhelmed by Moroccan Migrant Influx Pleads For Help From European Union

Spanish City Overwhelmed by Moroccan Migrant Influx Pleads For Help From European Union

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