{"id":621284,"date":"2026-08-05T06:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T06:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/621284\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T06:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T06:33:17","slug":"eu-ministers-seek-tougher-migration-response-after-ceuta-crisis-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/621284\/","title":{"rendered":"EU ministers seek tougher migration response after Ceuta crisis \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tougher action is needed against \u200cmigrant smuggling networks after about 72,000 migrants entered Spain\u2019s <\/a>North African enclave of Ceuta last week, an emergency meeting of European Union<\/a> ministers has heard.<\/p>\n

Ministers also urged closer cooperation with countries outside the EU to \u200bcurb irregular migration and prevent a repeat of the surge, which began on Thursday at one of the its two land borders with Africa, both shared with Morocco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 90 migrants <\/a>died attempting the crossing, with many drowning and others crushed in the chaos, in what was the largest ever single illegal migration event in the history of the EU.<\/p>\n

European Commissioner Magnus Brunner told a news conference after the meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers that the influx had been fuelled by criminal smuggling networks and \u200bdisinformation on social media.<\/p>\n

He declined to say whether Morocco bore any responsibility, but praised Rabat\u2019s cooperation with Spanish authorities on returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an ongoing investigation of the matter [Morocco\u2019s role in the massive break] in Spain. So I … \u2060can\u2019t actually comment on that any further but there was of course some disinformation by the smugglers and the human traffickers, that\u2019s what we know for \u200csure,\u201d \u200che \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n

The surge prompted ministers to discuss a range of measures, including better intelligence-sharing, closer monitoring of social media to detect migration surges earlier, and stronger protection of the EU\u2019s external borders.<\/p>\n

Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> said the EU borders are a \u201cshared responsibility\u201d for the bloc, following a video meeting where countries expressed solidarity with Spain<\/a> despite increasing tensions in recent days. <\/p>\n

. <\/p>\n

The death toll in last week\u2019s migrant crisis is expected to increase. Some people drowned while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier. The overwhelming majority of people who swam to Spain have now been returned, with an estimated 2,000 still remaining in Ceuta. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Government chaired an emergency meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in response to the crisis. It was led by O\u2019Callaghan, who opened the meeting by describing the loss of life in Ceuta as a \u201chuman tragedy\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Spanish government has so far declined to criticise Morocco for the mass illegal migration, amid concerns about protecting relations with its neighbour state. It is understood that the meeting considered how Europe needs to maintain relations with third countries in the context of migration and protecting the bloc\u2019s borders. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ceuta leader blames Morocco over \u2018atrocity\u2019 of mass border crossing after more than 90 dieOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people attempted to enter the EU after videos explaining the route from Morocco to Spain went viral on social media. It is understood that some EU ministers have raised questions about how and why the European Commission<\/a> failed to use its sophisticated social media monitoring to anticipate and mitigate against the crisis. <\/p>\n

A statement, via Ireland\u2019s EU presidency website, following the meeting said that it had \u201cprovided an opportunity for Member States to exchange on further co-ordination of outreach to third countries, the protection of the EU\u2019s external borders and the need for strengthened crisis communication, particularly in the context of foreign information manipulation and interference\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite some terse exchanges between Italy and Spain over the weekend in response to the large-scale illegal migration crisis, it is understood that there was \u201cunanimous\u201d solidarity expressed at the meeting with prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>\u2019s government. It is also understood that Spain ended the meeting by thanking other member states for their constructive support. <\/p>\n

Italy had suspended its free-travel Schengen arrangements with Spain, which prompted S\u00e1nchez\u2019s to criticise a \u201ckind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction\u201d from EU member states. <\/p>\n

Speaking after the meeting, O\u2019Callaghan said that the EU \u201cis united and stands ready to support Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commend Spain for their swift response to the situation in Ceuta and extend our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life. The EU\u2019s external borders are our shared responsibility, and migration requires a united European response.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s meeting provided an important opportunity for member states to assess the tools already at our disposal, identify where further co-operation is needed, and advance our collective preparations ahead of the next ministerial meeting and the European Council in October,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

It is also understood that the meeting heard calls for \u201cinnovative solutions,\u201d from member states who have been advocating for controversial \u201creturn hubs\u201d \u2013 detention centres in third countries where those who attempt to illegally enter the EU would be sent. <\/p>\n

The same meeting heard that irregular arrivals into the EU are down 55 per cent over the last two years. <\/p>\n

In the wake of the Ceuta crisis some countries had sought to blame Spain\u2019s migration policies, which had been perceived by neighbouring countries as being too soft.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Spanish government approved a plan to give 500,000 undocumented migrants legal status in the country. It is understood that a small number of member states had alluded to the regularisation scheme as a pull factor in the meeting, which Spain has denied. Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tougher action is needed against \u200cmigrant smuggling networks after about 72,000 migrants entered Spain\u2019s North African enclave of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,5766,2219,13,14,6,56,26735,11,12,15,16,19614,10456,5,81065,383,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-621284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-european-commission","tag-european-union","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-immigration","tag-jim-ocallaghan","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-migrant-crisis","tag-morocco","tag-news","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-spain","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117041509510356271","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}