Spain has asked the EU border agency Frontex for extra support to help manage the migrant crisis in Ceuta after unrest in the Spanish enclave over security and living conditions.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska sent the request to Beate Gminder, the European Commission’s Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs, after she had already offered assistance on 21 August.
Madrid wants Frontex to deploy 10 additional officers to strengthen registration and initial checks on new arrivals.
The Spanish government also said support from the European Union Agency for Asylum could help with interviews and interpretation services.
The request comes after protests in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, turned into clashes between residents and police on Thursday.
Spanish authorities and Ceuta’s local government appealed for calm after several incidents, nearly a month after a large-scale arrival of migrants from Morocco into the territory.
Protesters have complained about security and hygiene problems and accuse the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of abandoning the city.
Although most of the migrants returned to Morocco within hours of the sudden influx, several thousand remained in Ceuta.
The Spanish government estimates that between 3,500 and 7,000 migrants are still in the city, while Ceuta’s authorities put the figure at at least 10,000.
Ceuta normally has a population of about 80,000.
