Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas on Tuesday urged the European Union to provide urgent support on Tuesday, saying the Spanish enclave is in an "untenable” situation since about 70,000 migrants entered it irregularly in late July.
Speaking at a press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Vivas warned that “Ceuta is a pressure cooker that could explode at any moment."
Vivas said the mass arrivals on 30-31 July, equivalent to the enclave’s entire population, had triggered an unprecedented humanitarian, security and economic crisis.
He called for immediate EU financial aid to strengthen border security and fund emergency reception facilities, particularly for unaccompanied minors.
He also called for a permanent and visible presence from Frontex and the European Union Agency for Asylum, alongside a rapid return plan for those migrants who remain in the city.
Vivas directly accused Morocco of actively facilitating, or at least allowing, the mass crossing in an attempt to destabilise Ceuta and put pressure on the territorial integrity of both Spain and Europe.
He urged the EU to take a firm stance towards Rabat and to make any co-operation conditional on strict respect for European borders.
In the longer term, Vivas said, Ceuta and Melilla should be granted special status. He also called for the EU migration and asylum pact to be adapted, noting that the two enclaves are Europe’s only land borders in Africa.
“If Ceuta falls, Spain falls and Europe falls,” he said, in an appeal for European solidarity.
Vivas was due to meet on Tuesday with European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, and the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.
The two commissioners were also expected to meet Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, to “discuss the situation on the ground,” a European Commission spokesperson said.
