Stronger EU borders needed after Ceuta crisis, von der Leyen says
✓The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries.
In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.”
She praised the Spanish socialist leader’s swift handling of the crisis, after the vast majority of migrants left Ceuta and Spanish officials began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier at the border with Morocco. “Order has been restored and the returns system in place worked,” she wrote in the letter.
Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding initial estimates of 50,000 having arrived in the enclave in north Africa on Thursday. Authorities in Ceuta reported that 88 people died trying to reach the territory, while at least 11 deaths have been recorded in Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave, have the EU’s only land borders with Africa. There are periodic surges in attempted crossings to both cities, although neither permits onward free movement to the EU as they are outside the border-free Schengen zone.
EU interior ministers will hold emergency talks on Tuesday, which von der Leyen said would be a chance to draw lessons from the crossings.
She said the EU should double down on five areas: strengthening cooperation with non-EU countries to prevent migration; stronger external borders; implementing early warning systems; dismantling smuggling networks; and boosting returns of people with no right to stay.
Italian media reported that Giorgia Meloni’s government wanted to accelerate the opening of offshore migration centres, which Europe’s top human rights expert recently said risked becoming “human rights black holes”.
The EU opened the door to offshore detention centres in June in an unprecedented departure from legal norms as part of a law aiming to increase the deportations of people with no legal right to stay.
Amid heavy criticism of the EU’s divided response to the Ceuta border crossings, von der Leyen stressed that Spain could access EU funds as well as support from the Frontex border agency. So far Madrid has not requested the assistance of Frontex.
The crossings – seized on by far-right politicians across Europe – have exposed deep divisions over migration that have left Spain’s leader isolated.
Over the weekend, Sánchez criticised other governments for failing to support Spain, after Italy and Denmark led calls for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone. Sánchez said such an attitude was “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest” and contrary to European and humanitarian law “and the principles of solidarity that bind us together”.
Italy and Denmark organised a letter signed by 20 other EU member states that appeared to blame the crisis on Sánchez’s decision to regularise the status of 500,000 migrants without documents. “We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration,” the 22 leaders wrote, arguing for the need to address “all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularisation of [a] very large number of irregular migrants”.
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EU member states favouring a tough approach to migration are expected to raise the issue of “pull factors” on Tuesday. “There is some concern that the regularisation of 1.2 million people can be used to paint a picture that the door is open,” an EU diplomat said, referring to the approximate number of people who applied for regularisation under the 2026 Spanish government programme.
Academic research has found no evidence of a pull effect from regularisation programmes on arrivals of irregular migrants.
Michele LeVoy, the director of Picum, an umbrella group that campaigns for the rights of undocumented migrants, said regularisation programmes had been criticised by EU governments for the last two decades. “If an EU country offers regularisation possibilities, other member states believe that it may invite secondary movement [onward movement to other EU member states] – that is what EU member states don’t want and that explains most likely the harsh response.”
Amid widespread suspicion that Morocco helped fuel the crisis, von der Leyen described the country as “an important strategic partner”, especially in combating “illegal migration”.
Officials said that before the Ceuta crossings, the European Commission was looking to upgrade the EU’s diplomatic relationship with Morocco to a “strategic and comprehensive partnership”. The EU already has similar wide-ranging agreements with Egypt and Tunisia, which include pledges to stem migration, but which have been heavily criticised by rights groups.
Von der Leyen wrote: “On anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco.”
Rights groups said people seeking work or fleeing persecution needed routes to move safely. LeVoy said: “On Ceuta, political games are being played over the lives of people on both sides of the border – those who hope for a better life, and those who are made to fear a so-called ‘invasion’. But what happened in and around Ceuta is fundamentally the result of Europe’s inaction on decent work permits and other regular pathways and the dismantling of its asylum systems.”
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗
Following a four-day surge in migrant arrivals at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for reinforced EU border measures. Approximately 69,500 migrants returned to Morocco during this period, though 88 deaths were recorded in Ceuta and 11 in Morocco. Von der Leyen praised Spain's response, which included deploying a 500-metre floating barrier at the Morocco border. She proposed five policy areas for EU focus: strengthened international cooperation on migration prevention, enhanced external border security, early warning systems, anti-smuggling operations, and expedited returns for those without legal status. EU interior ministers will convene Tuesday to assess the incident. The crisis has exposed significant internal disagreement: while some member states support Spain's handling, 22 others signed a letter attributing the surge partly to Spain's 2023 regularization programme for 500,000 undocumented migrants, framing it as potentially encouraging arrivals. Spain's government contests this characterization, citing humanitarian and European law principles. Rights advocates note the absence of safe legal migration pathways, while academic research has not established a causal link between regularization and increased irregular migration.
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗
The president of the European Commission has called for action to strengthen Europe’s borders after tens of thousands of people arrived and quickly left the Spanish territory of Ceuta, triggering a furious row between Madrid and other European countries.
In a letter to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said: “From this incident, it is clear that we must do more to further strengthen our borders at critical points, including vigilant monitoring and the use of physical barriers where needed.”
She praised the Spanish socialist leader’s swift handling of the crisis, after the vast majority of migrants left Ceuta and Spanish officials began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier at the border with Morocco. “Order has been restored and the returns system in place worked,” she wrote in the letter.
Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding initial estimates of 50,000 having arrived in the enclave in north Africa on Thursday. Authorities in Ceuta reported that 88 people died trying to reach the territory, while at least 11 deaths have been recorded in Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave, have the EU’s only land borders with Africa. There are periodic surges in attempted crossings to both cities, although neither permits onward free movement to the EU as they are outside the border-free Schengen zone.
EU interior ministers will hold emergency talks on Tuesday, which von der Leyen said would be a chance to draw lessons from the crossings.
She said the EU should double down on five areas: strengthening cooperation with non-EU countries to prevent migration; stronger external borders; implementing early warning systems; dismantling smuggling networks; and boosting returns of people with no right to stay.
Italian media reported that Giorgia Meloni’s government wanted to accelerate the opening of offshore migration centres, which Europe’s top human rights expert recently said risked becoming “human rights black holes”.
The EU opened the door to offshore detention centres in June in an unprecedented departure from legal norms as part of a law aiming to increase the deportations of people with no legal right to stay.
Amid heavy criticism of the EU’s divided response to the Ceuta border crossings, von der Leyen stressed that Spain could access EU funds as well as support from the Frontex border agency. So far Madrid has not requested the assistance of Frontex.
The crossings – seized on by far-right politicians across Europe – have exposed deep divisions over migration that have left Spain’s leader isolated.
Over the weekend, Sánchez criticised other governments for failing to support Spain, after Italy and Denmark led calls for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone. Sánchez said such an attitude was “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest” and contrary to European and humanitarian law “and the principles of solidarity that bind us together”.
Italy and Denmark organised a letter signed by 20 other EU member states that appeared to blame the crisis on Sánchez’s decision to regularise the status of 500,000 migrants without documents. “We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration,” the 22 leaders wrote, arguing for the need to address “all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularisation of [a] very large number of irregular migrants”.
after newsletter promotion
EU member states favouring a tough approach to migration are expected to raise the issue of “pull factors” on Tuesday. “There is some concern that the regularisation of 1.2 million people can be used to paint a picture that the door is open,” an EU diplomat said, referring to the approximate number of people who applied for regularisation under the 2026 Spanish government programme.
Academic research has found no evidence of a pull effect from regularisation programmes on arrivals of irregular migrants.
Michele LeVoy, the director of Picum, an umbrella group that campaigns for the rights of undocumented migrants, said regularisation programmes had been criticised by EU governments for the last two decades. “If an EU country offers regularisation possibilities, other member states believe that it may invite secondary movement [onward movement to other EU member states] – that is what EU member states don’t want and that explains most likely the harsh response.”
Amid widespread suspicion that Morocco helped fuel the crisis, von der Leyen described the country as “an important strategic partner”, especially in combating “illegal migration”.
Officials said that before the Ceuta crossings, the European Commission was looking to upgrade the EU’s diplomatic relationship with Morocco to a “strategic and comprehensive partnership”. The EU already has similar wide-ranging agreements with Egypt and Tunisia, which include pledges to stem migration, but which have been heavily criticised by rights groups.
Von der Leyen wrote: “On anything related to Ceuta and Melilla, we could enhance border management early-warning systems and improve our technical and financial support to Morocco.”
Rights groups said people seeking work or fleeing persecution needed routes to move safely. LeVoy said: “On Ceuta, political games are being played over the lives of people on both sides of the border – those who hope for a better life, and those who are made to fear a so-called ‘invasion’. But what happened in and around Ceuta is fundamentally the result of Europe’s inaction on decent work permits and other regular pathways and the dismantling of its asylum systems.”
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗
Tens of thousands of migrants arrived in the Spanish territory of Ceuta over four days, with approximately 69,500 returning to Morocco by official Spanish estimates 88 deaths were recorded in Ceuta and at least 11 in Morocco during the crossing attempt Von der Leyen stated in a letter to Spain's Prime Minister that 'Order has been restored and the returns system in place worked' Spain has begun installing a 500-metre floating barrier at its border with Morocco Von der Leyen called for stronger EU border measures at critical points, including physical barriers where needed EU interior ministers will hold emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss the incident 22 EU member states signed a letter criticizing Spain's 2023 regularization of 500,000 undocumented migrants as a 'pull factor' for irregular migration Spain's government characterized criticism from other member states as 'driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest' Academic research has found no evidence that regularization programmes increase irregular migrant arrivals The EU has opened the door to offshore detention centres as part of efforts to increase deportations Rights groups characterize such offshore centres as risking becoming 'human rights black holes' Rights advocates argue the Ceuta incident results from Europe's lack of safe legal migration pathways and dismantled asylum systems
Read the full story at BBC ↗ · The Guardian ↗
- EU Commission President von der Leyen called for stronger border controls after tens of thousands of migrants crossed into Spanish territory Ceuta over four days, with roughly 69,500 returning to Morocco
- Spain is installing physical barriers at its border with Morocco; EU interior ministers will hold emergency talks Tuesday to discuss migration response
- Member states are divided: some support Spain's swift response, while 22 others (led by Italy and Denmark) have criticized Spain's 2023 regularization of 500,000 undocumented migrants, viewing it as a 'pull factor'
- Von der Leyen outlined five EU priorities: cooperation with non-EU countries, stronger external borders, early warning systems, dismantling smuggling networks, and accelerated returns
- Academic research found no evidence that regularization programmes increase irregular migration arrivals; rights groups argue Europe lacks safe legal pathways for migrants and asylum-seekers