The migratory situation in Ceuta is already an “emergency” after the arrival in the city of more than 1,000 people, both adults and minors, in this last week. The immigrants, mostly Moroccans, are entering by swimming through the city’s two border perimeters, in what some understand as an immediate reaction to the Supreme Court ruling of July 8, which prevents the hot return of people who enter by swimming and reserves it only for those who have violated “the established border containment elements, such as fences.” However, Ceuta experiences spikes in arrivals every summer and in the same way, which is why those familiar with the phenomenon, such as José Miguel Morales, director of Sur Acoge, believe that nothing has changed: “What must be assumed is that this is repeated, we cannot go from emergency to emergency, but rather we must once and for all dimension the reception and social care services that the city requires.”
Read more The left facing artificial intelligence: an extinction event?
These days, Morales says by phone, there are almost as many migrants inside as outside Ceuta’s Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI), forcing them to spend the night on the street and improvise camps in the surroundings. “On the ground, we have calculated that between 30 and 40 minors have arrived and, according to local media reports, there is already talk of four drowned people who did not reach the coast. But, I insist, it’s no surprise, it happens every summer,” says Morales. The director of Sur Acoge says he is aware, however, of “the good will of the CETI officials to enable as many spaces as they can and accommodate the newcomers.”
“The extraordinary pressure on existing reception resources” has motivated Monday’s meeting between the Government Delegation in Ceuta and the authorities of the autonomous city to jointly address a situation that is overwhelming the reception center, both institutions explain in a joint statement.
The city is preparing to coordinate in a way that they can offer a response to the most pressing needs, they explain, “with the aim of guaranteeing an effective response from the humanitarian, assistance, and security fields. The situation has been communicated “urgently at the highest institutional level.” The migratory pressure, the Government delegation and the city presidency agree, “requires an extraordinary and immediate response.” They, for their part, have promised to collaborate institutionally to address the large arrival of migrants in a short period of time.
Read more French police arrests a man after a knife attack on three women in Paris
More than the recent Supreme Court ruling, which Morales does not believe to be the cause of this surge, it is the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, PEMA, in force since June 12, that the director of Sur Acoge, one of the most active humanitarian organizations in the area, fears: “The pact toughens the conditions for entering the Schengen area, and Ceuta and Melilla do not belong to it, therefore, if the number of migrants grows excessively, it will not be so easy to relieve that pressure by distributing them throughout the peninsula,” he explains.
Summer has its classic images and migratory surges in Ceuta are one of them, due to the good weather, which allows reaching the Ceuta coast from Castillejos, in Moroccan territory, without major mishaps, although not all succeed. The Canary Islands, for example, raise their migratory statistics after the summer due to sea conditions.
Read more Enrique de Inglaterra sorprende a Meghan Markle en su estreno como jueza invitada de ‘MasterChef’
