This article first appeared in New English Review.
For several years, migrants from North and Sub-Saharan Africa have used the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla (actually located on the North African coast bordering Morocco), as a point of crossing into Spain and the rest of the European Union. Periodically, dozens or even hundreds of migrants, almost exclusively young men, have stormed the fence guarding the border while Moroccan police and border guards do basically nothing, and have fought Spanish border guards and police. Once they made it across, they were basically home free. They would then be placed in reception centers as they requested asylum and their applications were processed.
Most recently, it was Ceuta that saw an invasion on July 30 that amounted to at least 70,000 migrants storming across the border, in many cases simply swimming to the closest Spanish beach. Dozens drowned in the process.
Spanish border guards and police were simply overwhelmed. The asylum center in Ceuta was already filled to overflowing, and these new arrivals could not be accommodated. The local government pleaded with the central government in Madrid under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for relief. It was slow in coming. The leftist Sanchez government was already in the process of trying to give legal status to some 500,000 migrants already in the country. (Many of these were from South America and were already working in the country. Since they spoke Spanish and shared the same religion as Spain, there was a better possibility of assimilation, as opposed to the mostly Muslim, non-Spanish arrivals from Africa and the Middle East.)
The result was that tens of thousands of people found themselves stranded on the streets of Ceuta with no place to stay, no food, no work, and no possibility of continuing on into continental Europe and other EU member nations. Eventually, the majority of them voluntarily left and were escorted back to the border crossing into Morocco. However, to this day, some 5,000 or more remain on the streets and are camping on the beach. Predictably, there have been reports of sexual assaults; women are afraid to go out at night; and just this week, a group of migrants captured a baby dolphin swimming in shallow waters and proceeded to beat it to death. To them, it was all great sport.
Slowly, Spanish reinforcements began arriving in Ceuta, working 24-hour shifts, patrolling the streets and trying to prevent incidents. The army was shockingly ordered not to take any enforcement action against the migrants and was not even given firearms. In one incident about a week ago, a patrol was assaulted by a group of some 30-40 men throwing rocks at them. They were literally forced to flee for their lives, and their utility vehicle, which was not armored and was totally inadequate for the situation, was destroyed by the mob. The head of the union for soldiers and sailors angrily criticized the federal government, complaining that the "troops' hands and feet were tied."
The European Union reacted in shock at the events unfolding in Ceuta. A diplomatic rift between Italy and Spain erupted when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that people arriving at Italian airports from Spain would be screened, notwithstanding the EU's Schengen Agreement, which allows unrestricted crossing of national borders of EU-member nations. Spain reacted in anger, and insults flew back and forth between Rome and Madrid.
As if Europe needed another wake-up call, this problem drew attention and alarm across Europe. How could such an invasion take place? Of course, this latest one was just the largest in scale, but smaller border crossings had been occurring periodically in Ceuta and Melilla for years. Sanchez and his government have come under immense criticism for their handling of this mess, and rightly so.
In addition, there was the question of Morocco's role in all this. It appears that the latest invasion was a result of a recent Spanish Supreme Court decision on July 8 that banned Spanish police from immediately deporting, the so-called "push backs", of those coming in this manner. The message was not lost on the migrants. That, coupled with the inaction of the Moroccans, who were doing very little to stop it on their side, if not facilitating it, spurred this latest mass invasion. It was charged that this time, the Moroccans actively facilitated the crossings. This is also the same country, of course, that has spawned the vicious Moroccan Mafia (Mocro Maffia), which is responsible for much of the cocaine smuggling into Belgium and the Netherlands, gang warfare, murders, and political assassinations. Morocco refuses to take back many of its criminals whom the Europeans are trying to deport. This is especially a problem in the Netherlands.
But why should Europe need a wake-up call after all the horrendous crimes and terrorist acts being committed by these illegal migrants, of whom Moroccans are heavily represented? The populations of Western European countries are crying out to their leaders to stop the flow and send the illegals and criminals back to their home countries. Deportations do occur, but at a very slow pace as more keep arriving.
Ceuta should also be a wake-up call for the US, as if we needed it after 9-11, and the open-borders policy of the Biden administration. While Biden was in office, we saw similar scenes on our Mexican border with hundreds of migrants lingering under overpasses on the US side and eventually just being allowed to move around the country at will. Many have engaged in crime, including the vicious Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela, a particularly bloodthirsty bunch.
Gradually, the Ceuta crisis will subside, and things will return to normal-until the next time it happens. On August 15, Moroccan police, under pressure from Spain and the EU, intercepted another large group of migrants in the hundreds after Spanish intelligence made public the fact that they were expecting another wave on that date. But it can't be a one-time event. Unless Morocco decides to act like a responsible member of the family of nations, and the Spanish government in Madrid gets serious about stopping the invasions, Spain will experience this crisis again and again.
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