Spain Asks Frontex to Help Return Migrants from Ceuta
Spain has asked the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to help return migrants who arrived in Ceuta last month and remain in this Spanish territory in North Africa.
Of the more than 70,000 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Morocco into Ceuta in late July, about 5,000 remain in the Spanish exclave. Ceuta residents are protesting their presence in the city.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has appealed to Beate Gminder, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, to assist with the screening of migrants in Ceuta. Madrid has also requested the deployment of an additional 10 Frontex officers.
Madrid cannot quickly deport the migrants, as collective returns without individual assessments are prohibited by international law and Spanish court rulings. The Spanish government has ruled out the possibility of transferring migrants to the mainland, as this would lead to further criticism from the opposition as well as from some EU member states.
The migrants set up camp on Trampolín Beach; amid discontent among local residents, some tents were set on fire.
This was reported by DW.
Ukrainian women in Spain are being asked to show their Reserve+ card.
Spain will allow 500 underage migrants from Ceuta to move to the mainland.
