Stronger EU borders needed after Ceuta crisis, von der Leyen says
The Guardian – World
theguardian.com
Summary
European Commission president says work needed in five areas of migration control including returning more people The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries. In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.” She praised the Spanish socialist leader’s swift handling of the crisis, after the vast majority of migrants left Ceuta and Spanish officials began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier at the border with Morocco . “Order has been restored and the returns system in place worked,” she wrote in the letter. Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding initial estimates of 50,000 having arrived in the enclave on north African territory on Thursday. Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave, have the EU’s only land border with Africa . There are periodic surges in attempted crossings to both cities, although neither permits onward free movement to the EU as they are outside the border-free Schengen zone. Amid heavy criticism of the EU’s divided response to the Ceuta border crossings, von der Leyen stressed that Spain could access EU funds as well as support from the Frontex border agency. The EU already has similar wide-ranging agreements with Egypt and Tunisia, which include pledges to stem migration, but have been heavily criticised by rights groups. Von der Leyen wrote: “On anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco.” Rights groups said people seeking work or fleeing persecution needed routes to move safely. LeVoy said: “On Ceuta, political games are being played over the lives of people on both sides of the border – those who hope for a better life, and those who are made to fear a so-called ‘invasion’. But what happened in and around Ceuta is fundamentally the result of Europe’s inaction on decent work permits and other regular pathways and the dismantling of its asylum systems.”
From the source
European Commission president says work needed in five areas of migration control including returning more people The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries. In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.” Continue reading...
Read the full article
Published by The Guardian – World on theguardian.com
