Almost 50,000 migrants arrived in Spain from Morocco in the past 24 hours

The Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the northern coast of Africa has faced a new migration crisis. Over the past few days, thousands of irregular migrants have arrived in the city from Morocco, many crossing the border by swimming, on inflatable rings and in small boats. Due to the sharp increase in arrivals, local authorities said that the accommodation system had reached the limit of its capacity and called on Madrid to declare a state of emergency.

According to the Spanish authorities, around two thousand people arrived in Ceuta during the past week alone. Spain’s Interior Ministry believes that the situation can still be kept under control for now, but additional police units and military personnel have already been sent to the city to reinforce border security.

Morocco attributes the developments to the activities of criminal networks that organise the illegal transportation of people across the border, and stresses that cooperation with Spain on migration remains “exemplary”.

Experts believe that the current surge in migration has been caused by several factors at once. In summer, the sea becomes calmer, making dangerous sea crossings more accessible. At the same time, severe economic conditions, unemployment, armed conflicts and political instability persist in a number of countries in West and Central Africa. Criminal groups involved in the illegal transportation of people are actively exploiting these conditions, spreading rumours about “open borders” and encouraging migrants to make mass attempts to reach Europe.

Another contributing factor may be changes in irregular migration routes. As controls are tightened along some sections of the European Union’s external border, flows of people often shift to other destinations.

What is happening is also significant for Northern Cyprus. The situation in Ceuta shows that migration pressure on the European Union’s external borders continues to grow along several routes at once. If the main route in the west remains the passage from Morocco to Spain, then in the eastern Mediterranean, Northern Cyprus remains one of the most active directions. Some irregular migrants attempt to enter the Republic of Cyprus through the northern part of the island and then move on to other EU countries. This is why the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus have strengthened controls along the UN buffer zone in recent years, increased the number of patrols and repeatedly stated that irregular migration through the northern part of the island is one of the key challenges to national and European security.

Experts note that the crisis in Spain could lead to even stricter measures to protect the EU’s external borders, as well as increased controls along other migration routes, including the Cyprus route. For now, Spain and Morocco continue to coordinate their actions in an attempt to prevent new mass attempts to cross the border illegally. Without addressing the root causes of migration — poverty, conflicts and the activities of smugglers — such crises, specialists believe, will continue to recur.