The Spanish government has asked the EU border agency Frontex for help in tackling the migration crisis in its North African exclave of Ceuta.

The request was made by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to the European Commission’s director general for migration and home affairs, Beate Gminder, the government press office in Madrid said on Friday. Gminder offered this assistance on August 21.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is under immense pressure following a mass influx of tens of thousands of migrants into Ceuta in late July.

For legal reasons, it cannot deport the remaining migrants quickly, but neither does it wish to bring them to the mainland, whilst some residents are beginning to protest against the migrants’ presence.

Spain: 5,000 migrants still in Ceuta

According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, around 72,000 migrants swam from Morocco to Ceuta or climbed over border fences on July 30 and 31.

Most returned within hours, but Grande-Marlaska said in parliament on Friday that there are still some 5,000 migrants in the small enclave, one month on. Some of the nearly 85,000 residents are staging increasingly violent protests against the migrants’ presence.

However, a collective return of the migrants to Morocco without an assessment of individual cases is prohibited under international law and Spanish court rulings.

The government has ruled out bringing the migrants from Ceuta – which is not part of the Schengen area – to the Spanish mainland, even for a temporary period.

This would lead to fierce resistance from autonomous regions governed by conservative parties and renewed criticism of Spain from other EU countries.

Furthermore, it could breach Schengen rules and result in Spain’s exclusion from the group of countries without checks at their shared internal borders.

Only around 500 unaccompanied minors in particular need of protection are to be brought to the mainland.

The Interior Ministry has asked Frontex to deploy 10 additional officers to speed up the registration and initial screening of migrants.

The ministry emphasized that support from the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) in conducting interviews and providing interpreters as part of this screening process could be extremely helpful. Due to limited space in Ceuta, the measures could be carried out remotely online.