Ceuta President Juan Jes\u00fas Vivas has accused Morocco of a sustained policy of harassment against the Spanish city and has asked the European Union to tell Rabat that cooperation begins with respecting the border, breaking with the Spanish Government\u2019s insistence that Morocco is a trusted partner on irregular migration.<\/p>\n
Vivas spoke at a press conference in the European Parliament on September 8. He said Ceuta and Melilla, the only land borders the EU has in Africa, should be granted a special status and that the European Pact on Migration and Asylum should be adapted to their circumstances.<\/p>\n
He described Ceuta as a pressure cooker that could go off at any moment, saying security, public services, the economy and community relations had all been strained since about 72,000 people crossed from Morocco on July 30-31. Spain\u2019s interior ministry gave that figure on August 4, while the city government and some officials have used a number closer to 80,000.<\/p>\n
At least 83 people died on the Spanish side, according to the Guardia Civil, while the NGO Caminando Fronteras has counted 145 including bodies recovered in Moroccan waters.<\/p>\n
Vivas said Rabat was using border controls and migratory pressure to challenge Spanish territorial integrity and to overwhelm the city\u2019s reception services. He asked the European institutions to press Madrid to set out a defined returns plan, with a firm date, for the third-country nationals still in Ceuta, among them unaccompanied minors.<\/p>\n
He also called for a permanent Frontex and European Union Agency for Asylum presence in the city and for European money to build border infrastructure, arguing that control of the frontier should rest with Spain and Europe rather than with a neighbouring country.<\/p>\n