Migration crisis in Ceuta: Spain is struggling with the consequences of the mass influx

Madrid. The Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta cannot return to normality. At the end of July, 72,000 migrants streamed in from Morocco. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had already announced on August 1st that his government had succeeded in “sending back almost everyone who had crossed the border illegally”. But the emphasis is on the word “almost”: According to the government, around 5,000 people are still in the small town.

There is a lack of accommodation. Many migrants camp on the streets and on the beach or hide in the outskirts of the city. Residents no longer feel safe and are also neglected by Madrid. In response, they protested last Wednesday against the Spanish government's handling of the migrant crisis. Across Spain, people took to the streets in solidarity demonstrations with Ceuta, with 50,000 in Madrid alone.

For Rut Bermejo from the think tank Real Instituto Elcano, the answer to this consists of two parts. First of all, it's about the government's initial reaction on July 31st. “It was successful,” she says. Madrid cooperated with the Moroccan government in Rabat “and sent the vast majority of migrants back within 24 hours.”

According to Bermejo, the second part of the answer is less positive. “The government appears to have underestimated how many adults are refusing to return to Morocco and have instead hidden in the forest areas and hills of Ceuta,” says the expert.

Xavier Aragall, migration expert at the think tank Instituto Europeo del Mediterráneo in Barcelona, ​​goes much further. “The Spanish government is actually failing in Ceuta,” is how he assesses the situation. “We don’t understand why there was a lack of responsiveness and sensitivity that allowed the remaining migrants in the city to escalate into such a major crisis,” he says.

Anyone who is still in Ceuta and does not return voluntarily must receive a regular procedure. Depending on the case, this can be an asylum, return or readmission procedure.

To carry out the procedures, Spain must first clarify the identity of the migrants and their nationality in order to be able to send them back to Morocco or another country if necessary.

The new EU asylum law, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), has also been in effect since June 12th of this year. Ceuta is the first practical test for the GEAS - and shows the limits of the system.

The new law stipulates that a decision on migrants' applications will be made within twelve weeks if they come from countries with an EU-wide asylum recognition rate of less than 20 percent. Until a decision is made, the migrants should be accommodated in detention-like centers in order to prevent them from traveling on to other regions of the EU. The biometric data of asylum seekers is also recorded there in order to store it in an EU-wide database. But so far there can be no talk of any of this in Ceuta.

The problem begins with the lack of accommodation. The people could have been identified in these so that they could later receive their notices. In addition, the exact number of migrants who are currently moving through the city in search of new places to stay cannot be stated. There is also a lack of officials, interpreters and judges for the proceedings.

The new asylum system is mandatory for the individual EU states. However, Spain has not yet fully adapted its national asylum legislation and administrative structures to the new requirements. This increases legal uncertainty and creates points of attack in Spanish and European courts.

Spain is not the only country that has not yet implemented the new EU asylum rules into national law. In May of this year, according to the EU Commission, only five countries had adapted their national legislation. Ceuta could therefore be a wake-up call. “The rules are only useful if states prepare to be able to apply them,” says Bermejo.

The Spanish Prime Minister is now trying to counteract the crisis. At the beginning of the week he promised extensive aid for Ceuta - more than 400 million euros, including for judges, public prosecutors and lawyers as well as civil servants. He has also requested help from the EU border protection agency Frontex for Ceuta.

It is not just Sánchez's late reaction that is causing discontent in Spain, but also a dispute over whether his government had previously ignored warnings from the police and secret services. There is also the question of why he is defending Morocco against accusations that he is at least partially responsible for the drama.

During his first appearance before Congress last Thursday, after great public pressure, Sánchez appeared for the first time willing to question Morocco's role in the attack on Ceuta. Until now, he had blamed mafia structures and social networks with connections to Israel and Russia. They fueled the crowds with false information.

Last Wednesday, however, Spanish media quoted a police report that evaluated videos and photos of the stampede and which the Spanish Interior Minister said he was not aware of. The images show how Moroccan officials did not stop the migrants from marching towards the border. According to Spanish media, the conclusion of the report is that it was a planned and organized operation that went far beyond the capacity of ordinary gangs.

On Thursday, Sánchez also admitted that Morocco had “allowed border crossings” for hours on July 30. But it still needs to be clarified whether this is due to inaction or the inability to stop the influx, he told MPs. “At the moment,” he continued, there is nothing to suggest that Moroccan authorities planned or directed the onslaught. If the assessment changes, his government will act accordingly.

Spain is dependent on Morocco for border security. Migration expert Aragall therefore assumes that the relationship between the two countries will not be fundamentally reshaped. "Morocco is the European Union's most important partner in North Africa. Spain and the EU have absolutely no interest in that changing," he says.

Ceuta is also causing discord within the EU. After the rush, Italy introduced border controls for travelers from Spain so that no migrants from Ceuta could enter. “This is primarily symbolic politics, because so far not a single migrant has reached mainland Spain,” says Aragall. Madrid reacted angrily and began randomly checking travelers from Italy. At the end of August, both countries extended the controls for another 15 days.

In terms of domestic policy, the Ceuta crisis comes at a most unfavorable moment for Sánchez. Parliamentary elections are due next July at the latest. However, the socialist heads of government in the autonomous regions and municipalities have been urging Sánchez for months to bring the date forward. The reason: municipalities and regions should not have to suffer from the dissatisfaction of many Spaniards with national politics.

On May 23rd next year, local elections will take place across Spain as well as elections in most autonomous regions. The Socialists lost the three elections in autonomous regions this year. The minority government in Spain is politically blocked because Sánchez's left-wing partners have been failing to cooperate for months. There are also numerous corruption scandals surrounding the Prime Minister.