Ceuta Migrant Influx Reignites Immigration Divisions in Europe

The unprecedented influx of migrants who made their way from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last Thursday and Friday has created tensions between Spain and the European partners most critical of its migration policy. Italy, followed by Denmark, immediately called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen Area.

The demand has angered Madrid, who requested a videoconference meeting between EU interior ministers to take place on Tuesday.

In recent months, Brussels has already significantly tightened its immigration legislation through the New Pact on Migration and Asylum which, among other measures, allows member states to send rejected asylum seekers to centres outside of the EU’s borders in so-called “return hubs”.

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FRANCE 24’s Stuart Norval spoke with Camille Le Coz, Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe about the recent events in Ceuta, and what might be next for the EU’s perennial immigration debate.

FRANCE 24: There’s been lots of incorrect information on this story over the weekend. Would you agree that far-right groups that have been trying to capitalise on these images?

Camille Le Coz: Absolutely. These events are of course unprecedented. There had been crises in Ceuta in the past, but this is the first time that so many people come at once in such a short amount of time. And we’ve seen how these images have been used politically, especially by right wing and far-right wing party across Europe to show that Europe was “under attack”.

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While you have one member state that has been facing this exceptional situation, 22 other member states have chosen this time to blame Spain for their regularisation policy but also call for more drastic measures on fighting irregular migration while a lot is already happening between different packages on anti-smuggling, anti-trafficking measures and the implementation of this common EU framework called the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

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