EU commends Spain's 'swift response' to Ceuta migrant crisis

Summary

Hundreds of migrants were pictured lined up on a beach in Ceuta to collect aid on Tuesday The European Union has praised Spain's "swift response" to the migrant crisis in Ceuta, following a meeting of the bloc's interior ministers on Tuesday. Around 72,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish territory in North Africa between 30 and 31 July, Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said. He added that an estimated 70,000 have since been returned to Morocco. At least 75 people died on the Spanish side of the border, while 11 deaths were reported in Morocco. On Thursday, Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the images from Ceuta as "shocking", writing on social media that such "uncontrolled immigration" was a security threat to Europe. Since the two countries do not share a land border, this would only apply, effectively, to flights - which appears simply to mean extra checks for passengers. Watch: Migrants started to return to Morocco after thousands entered Spain's Ceuta on 30 July The Schengen agreement eliminates border checks and now encompasses more than 450 million people and 29 countries in Europe. Denmark's immigration minister Morten Bødskov said he was "very satisfied" with Spain's quick response, but added that the incident showed "it is absolutely crucial that we have control over the EU's borders". Speaking afterwards, EU commissioner Magnus Brunner said the incident had been a "test" of European resilience and border security - which he said it had successfully "passed". The crossings came after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish exclave, cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.