Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez fends off blistering criticism within the EU over Ceuta crisis
The Hindu – International
thehindu.com
Summary
Subscribed with another email? Many blamed the incident on his government's progressive policies and publicly rallied for new border checks at sea, air and land ports of entry. They blamed a recent Spanish court ruling for triggering “this attack on our migration and asylum system,” according to an open letter signed from the leaders of 22 EU countries, from Finland to Malta. Spain's Supreme Court had ruled that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported without due process, unlike those who cross by land or climb Ceuta's border fence because they had not crossed a physical barrier. Sanchez said that the ruling had been intentionally misconstrued by migrant smugglers to convince thousands of people to cross by swimming around the border fence. Many right-wing politicians have won elections across the EU by promising to crackdown on migration — and they claim to have done so with the European Migration and Asylum Pact. Newer, stricter regulations for asylum seekers and migrants largely replaced the previous migration system, which was widely considered a failure. These new provisions have been met with skepticism from human rights groups, including fears that deportation centers hosted abroad could morph into long-term holding facilities overflowing with asylum seekers stuck in legal limbo. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni issued the most blunt criticism of Sanchez, as well as announcing that Italy would enforce air and sea border controls with Spain. Data from the EU's border agency Frontex shows migration to the EU peaked in 2015 with 1.8 million people, the majority of whom crossed via the Balkans or the eastern Mediterranean.
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Many blamed the incident on his government's progressive policies and publicly rallied for new border checks at sea, air and land ports of entry
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Published by The Hindu – International on thehindu.com
