The Government of Pedro Sánchez has failed in its strategy to return to Morocco, as promised, all the immigrants who arrived irregularly in Ceuta on July 30 in the worst influx in history. Its tactic of flattering the neighboring country with kind words about its border management has not worked and, 22 days later after the massive entry, it is still looking for ways to face a process that will take a long time.
Read more Alert in Ávila: fights and shootings force the southern area to be secured during the night
In just two weeks it went from assuring that all the immigrants who entered, including minors, would leave, to setting up tents in Ceuta to rehouse those who had camped on the beach. Its maneuver has not worked.
This is already the second time in this legislature that the Government trusts Morocco and gets burned: it trusted that its shift in its stance on Western Sahara, recognizing Rabat’s autonomy proposal, would finally guarantee effective border control. But the influx has confirmed that there is no such shielding. It was also sure that the Alaouite kingdom would take charge of all the immigrants it returned in this wave, but now it even rejects the repatriation of the corpses. Spain has a difficult problem to solve, because it cannot get Morocco to accept thousands of Moroccans and Sub-Saharans who still remain in Ceuta, but the EU does not allow it to transfer them to the Peninsula, and there is no possibility of accommodating them all in the autonomous city.
Rabat’s attitude has been total passivity in the massive entry of immigrants but, at first, it at least cooperated in the returns. On July 30, after the massive entry occurred, Spain described its “collaboration” with Morocco as “exemplary” in the statement issued that same day by the Ministry of the Interior. It reported that the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, was in contact with his counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, and that they had committed to “implement measures for the delivery, as soon as possible, of all the people who have entered Ceuta illegally.”
That happened in the first days, where it is estimated that, of the 80,000 who reached the Spanish coast, about 72,000 were accepted again by Morocco. They were taken to the neighboring country en masse, despite the fact that the legal deadline of 72 hours established by the Immigration Law as the maximum limit to carry out returns had already passed. EL MUNDO witnessed how the Security Forces deported immigrants against their will, even children, and took them away in trucks.
“To the last person”
This way of acting was ratified on the 11th by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, when he assured that “to the last person who has entered Spain irregularly will return to Morocco.”
But something broke, because that same night the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, completely changed the tone and, in an interview with Asharq News, claimed the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, criticized Sánchez for his extraordinary regularization process, and demanded that Spain hand over the Moroccan children and adolescents who remained in Ceuta. The issue of minors had worried Moroccans for days, who saw in Spanish legislation “obstacles” both “administrative” and “judicial” to return them.
Since then, Spain has been faltering. The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, was very forceful, responding to Ouahbi that “Ceuta and Melilla are untouchable” and claiming that “Ceuta is very Spanish,” distancing herself from the attitude of the rest of the Government members who deepened praise for Rabat’s “cooperation.” Pedro Sánchez, for his part, has maintained a deliberately low profile, without interrupting his vacation in Lanzarote.
Read more An Amnesty Law against the Rule of Law and the judges
Meanwhile, Marlaska has been introducing some qualifications to Albares’ words in subsequent days, suggesting that “the vast majority” – no longer all – “will return to Morocco as soon as possible” and speaking no longer of returns, but of expulsion proceedings: longer and more complex procedures that do not include, for example, asylum seekers or minors.
And yesterday, after Ouahbi asked to address with Spain the “question” of the “historical and geographical right” over the autonomous cities, the Government went directly from flattery to warning by conveying to Rabat that “Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish cities on the border of Spain and the EU” and that “they are part of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Spain recognized internationally and are also an integral part of the EU territory.”
Foreign Ministry sources specified last night that this position was “clearly” conveyed yesterday “through diplomatic channels”: “We reject and will categorically reject any different approach regarding Ceuta and Melilla.”
Now the single command
Since last week, immigrant returns have stopped occurring and the Government had to improvise in a few days an alternative with 1,800 places in tents to complete the 800 places of the Temporary Stay Center for Foreigners (Ceti). In them, undocumented people who were on the Trampolín beach have been housed, where migrants from the forest and other places in Ceuta continue to arrive despite police evictions.
The decision this Friday to appoint the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, as the single command of the crisis, three weeks after the influx, confirms that the plans have not gone as the Executive thought. According to internal Police assessments, of the 8,000 adults and children who still remain in Ceuta, there are 6,500 wandering uncontrolled through the autonomous city, reports Quico Alsedo.
For Morocco, on the other hand, instability in Ceuta suits it well, showing its absolute control over what happens at the border and opening and closing the tap of migratory flows at its convenience.
Read more The Supreme Court authorizes Trump to temporarily continue the works at the White House
