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'Swift response' Why EU ministers are backing Spain's handling of Ceuta border crisis · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: The EU has passed the test. That's the assessment of
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  Speaker 1: the European Union's Commissioner for Migration. After an emergency meeting
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  Speaker 1: that was called in response to last week's breach of
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  Speaker 1: Spain's border with Morocco. The incident sparked calls from some
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  Speaker 1: EU member states to suspend Spain from EU border agreements. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: interior ministers agreed on Tuesday to step up efforts against
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  Speaker 1: people smuggling and disinformation. Spain says almost all the seventy
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  Speaker 1: two thousand migrants who crossed into siout have since returned
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  Speaker 1: to Morocco, and that none of them have crossed into
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  Speaker 1: mainland Spain.
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  Speaker 2: Migrants who entered Sauta from Morocco stranded on the beach
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  Speaker 2: their fate in Limbo. Spain's has an estimated two thousand
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  Speaker 2: remain in its North African exclave after last week's mass
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  Speaker 2: breach of the border. Aid workers have begun handing out
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  Speaker 2: food and water for many of the migrants, the first
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  Speaker 2: help after several days of waiting. But while the vast
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  Speaker 2: majority of last week's arrivals have since returned to Morocco,
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  Speaker 2: the political fallout is far from over. Scenes of tens
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  Speaker 2: of thousands of people crossing the EU's external border uncontrolled,
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  Speaker 2: sparked an immediate backlash against Spain from some EU member states.
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  Speaker 2: An emergency meeting of EU interior ministers was called for
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday to discuss what happened in Ciuta. Spain told other
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  Speaker 2: EU members that none of the block's internal border security
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  Speaker 2: mechanisms was compromised and that none of the migrants moved
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  Speaker 2: on to other countries, a position backed up by the EU.
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  Speaker 3: For the time being. Europe, I think has definitely passed
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  Speaker 3: this test. People did not manage to enter the Shengan
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  Speaker 3: area and security at the border was resolved quickly. The
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  Speaker 3: key now is for the European Union to act, I
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  Speaker 3: would say in a united manner and also draw the
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  Speaker 3: right conclusions from these events.
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  Speaker 2: But Italy, with its own hardline stands on migration, says
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  Speaker 2: the sayou To border incident shows the need for even
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  Speaker 2: tougher policies. Many of the migrants remaining in say they're
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  Speaker 2: hoping to apply for asylum, and even if they're pushed
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  Speaker 2: back to Morocco, their dreams of a better life in
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  Speaker 2: Europe aren't going to go away.
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  Speaker 1: Our special correspondent Nmitia Joys well is in set and
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  Speaker 1: joins us from there. Now, Amisia, bring us up to date.
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  Speaker 1: What's happening where you are today.
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  Speaker 4: Well, Terry, I've spent most of the day in the
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  Speaker 4: morning in the Saota city center to onto residents and
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  Speaker 4: things have really come back to normal compared to the
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  Speaker 4: scenes of last weekend when all the shops and commercial
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  Speaker 4: establishments were shuttered in fear of what could happen soon
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  Speaker 4: after the Microant search. A lot of people here saying
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  Speaker 4: that they are still very concerned, but when it comes
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  Speaker 4: to what the authorities are telling us about what is
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  Speaker 4: the fate of the remaining migrants, As we just saw
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  Speaker 4: in that report, they're saying that they're focus right now
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  Speaker 4: is going to be on minor females from this Microant group,
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  Speaker 4: who they say are the most at risks. So we're
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  Speaker 4: hearing that there's a school near the Morocco and Sego
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  Speaker 4: to our border where they would like to help these
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  Speaker 4: girls find shelter. We're also hearing that Spanish authorities are
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  Speaker 4: actually setting up helplines for Moroccan families that are looking
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  Speaker 4: for missing loved ones who went missing soon after the search.
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  Speaker 4: There are concerns, of course, because dozens have been reported killed,
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  Speaker 4: and Spanish authorities have offered their empathy and have encouraged
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  Speaker 4: Moroccan families to reach out to help identify if they're
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  Speaker 4: missing loved ones are the ones that unfortunately lost their
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  Speaker 4: lives during the search.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Sayota is quite small, this must have been a
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  Speaker 1: shock for residents there when tens of thousands of people
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  Speaker 1: suddenly arrived unexpectedly. Do the people the residents of Sayota
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  Speaker 1: have a clear idea of how this happened?
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  Speaker 4: Well, tarry many theories floating around and lots of interesting stances.
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  Speaker 4: When we've spoken to two different people, some have called
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  Speaker 4: this an invasion, an attack on Spain, and are pretty
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  Speaker 4: upset at Spanish authorities, some even saying that they were
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  Speaker 4: supporters of Pedro Sanchez but feel like he's not being
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  Speaker 4: strong enough for right now, and that the policies of
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  Speaker 4: Spain have perhaps even encouraged this surge that we saw.
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  Speaker 4: Others are blaming Morocco. They're calling this a political ploy.
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  Speaker 4: They're saying that this is just Morocco exerting its ability
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  Speaker 4: to allow for something like this to happen. Because of course,
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  Speaker 4: there are reports floating around that this could have been
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  Speaker 4: politically motivated. There's also anger because there have been both
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  Speaker 4: that have emerged, saying that Spanish authorities did have a
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  Speaker 4: warning maybe a day or two before this search actually happened.
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  Speaker 4: So even though there's no clear sense of what exactly happened,
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  Speaker 4: people are telling us that they have heard reports about
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  Speaker 4: social media disinformation, that they've heard reports that the Spanish
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  Speaker 4: government has not done enough. And there's a fair amount
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  Speaker 4: of frustration as well as anger about this because even
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  Speaker 4: when many people told us here they expressed empathy for
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  Speaker 4: the migrants, They said that nobody wants to leave their
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  Speaker 4: homes if they didn't have a desperate situation back home.
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  Speaker 4: But they've also expressed frustrations that a small town like
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  Speaker 4: this cannot possibly accommodate tens and thousands of people. And
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  Speaker 4: while they really hope this doesn't happen again, they see
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  Speaker 4: that they don't see any clear pathways to prevent that
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  Speaker 4: from happening. Some even saying to us that there needs
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  Speaker 4: to be a more robust military and security presence on
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  Speaker 4: this border around the year.
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  Speaker 1: All the time, we heard accounts initially of migrants struggling
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  Speaker 1: to find food and other basic necessities when they arrived there.
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  Speaker 1: In Sta. The vast majority have since returned to Morocco,
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  Speaker 1: of course, but what about those who remain there? What
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  Speaker 1: sort of conditions are they facing?
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  Speaker 5: Now?
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  Speaker 4: We'll tell you the conditions are definitely very difficult. The
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  Speaker 4: numbers we are receiving are mixed. There are of the
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  Speaker 4: fifty to seventy thousand people that we were told have
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  Speaker 4: crossed in that period and the days leading up to it,
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  Speaker 4: only about two thousand remained. But this number also varies
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  Speaker 4: depending on if you ask the Sayota authorities, of the
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  Speaker 4: Spanish authorities of these people. We've been to a beach
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  Speaker 4: that's close to a reception center and Sayota where hundreds
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  Speaker 4: are sheltering out in the open. And sheltering maybe the
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  Speaker 4: wrong word to use here, because of course this is
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  Speaker 4: an exposed beach. It is very high temperatures over here,
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  Speaker 4: and they've been lying there without food, without water for
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  Speaker 4: days now since they arrived. That being said, we do
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  Speaker 4: know that the military has been bringing out water perhaps
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  Speaker 4: once in a day. We saw one of these convoys
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  Speaker 4: come in yesterday, as well as we heard report that
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  Speaker 4: there was an at truck that came into before as
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  Speaker 4: well as now. The Red Cross has also shown up
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  Speaker 4: to provide food. Now, the migrants we spoke to up
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  Speaker 4: until then had said they'd received absolutely no food. Some
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  Speaker 4: reports had come through of residents going out to offer
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  Speaker 4: some food, but these are hundreds of people and it's
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  Speaker 4: difficult to manage with any small amounts of food. For
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  Speaker 4: the Red Cross's help, of course appreciated. But many here
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  Speaker 4: also telling us that despite the fact that there's no food,
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  Speaker 4: there's no water, they're determined to stay on. They're determined
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  Speaker 4: to approach reception centers and fine shelter in Europe because
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  Speaker 4: most of the people we talked who said this was
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  Speaker 4: not their first attempt to reach Europe, some fleeing violence
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  Speaker 4: in their native countries, some fleeing political persecution, some fleeing
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  Speaker 4: just a complete lack of opportunity. They've said they've long
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  Speaker 4: held this dream of coming to Europe and they're determined
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  Speaker 4: now that they've finally made it due to the circumstances
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  Speaker 4: that emerged during this episode in Seota, that they do
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  Speaker 4: not want to go back. So even despite the difficult
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  Speaker 4: conditions that they're clearly facing, there is a will to
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  Speaker 4: really stay put here.
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  Speaker 1: To me, Schulz, thank you very much for your reporting.
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  Speaker 1: That was our special correspondent Numitia jain Zoi in set.
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  Speaker 5: Well.
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  Speaker 1: Our Brussels correspondent Rosie Beirchild has been following all of
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  Speaker 1: this too and joins us now Rosie. EU interior ministers
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  Speaker 1: have held an emergency meeting online today to discuss what
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  Speaker 1: happened in Seuta. What came out of that meeting, Terry.
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  Speaker 5: A real change of tune, at least in terms of
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  Speaker 5: the rhetoric from other EU countries towards Spain. They were
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  Speaker 5: expressing solidarity and saying they stood by Spain. Now, of course,
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  Speaker 5: that is in opposition to what we saw over the weekend,
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  Speaker 5: which was a kind of cacophony of different responses from
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  Speaker 5: EU states and quite a lot of blame laid at
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  Speaker 5: Spain's feet. The EU's Migration Commissioner said that the EU
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  Speaker 5: had faced a test to its security and also to
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  Speaker 5: its solidarity, and this is the test that it had passed. Now,
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  Speaker 5: of course, if it were not the EU itself writing
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  Speaker 5: that report card, I think you might see some very
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  Speaker 5: different assessments of what this actually means for the EU, given,
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  Speaker 5: especially on that solidarity point, that there were such divisions,
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  Speaker 5: and also I think what this is a reminder of
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  Speaker 5: is that if you want to destabilize the entire EU politically,
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  Speaker 5: migratory pressure on one border is certainly a way to
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  Speaker 5: do it. I mean, there was such political fallout from
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  Speaker 5: these dramatic images that we saw over the weekend. The
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  Speaker 5: EUS Migration Commissioner also really wanted to stress that irregular
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  Speaker 5: migrant arrivals to the EU up until now in this
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  Speaker 5: year have been really falling. We've seen historic lows in
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  Speaker 5: some countries, including Sweden and Denmark. But he says he
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  Speaker 5: understands also that these were dramatic images that would have
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  Speaker 5: shocked people across the EU. And he also paid tribute
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  Speaker 5: to the dozens of people who died in these events
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  Speaker 5: in Sauta and noted that that each one of them
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  Speaker 5: means a person whose family will no longer see them.
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  Speaker 1: We did hear a number of EU countries criticizing Spain
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  Speaker 1: initially at least, but Seota is not part of the
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  Speaker 1: Shengen travel Area, it's not connected to the European mainland.
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  Speaker 1: Most of the migrants who crossed to Seyota were swiftly
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  Speaker 1: returned to Morocco. So why are other EU member states
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  Speaker 1: so concerned?
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  Speaker 2: Rosie, Well, that.
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  Speaker 5: Is precisely the question that Spain has been raising. It
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  Speaker 5: has especially been locking horns with Italy, which suspended Shengen
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  Speaker 5: cooperation with Spain. Now, as you pointed out, Ceouta is
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  Speaker 5: not part of the Shengin area, that's that id check
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  Speaker 5: free travel zone within the European Union. And therefore, as
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  Speaker 5: Spain says that Shengen was not compromised in terms of
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  Speaker 5: its security whatsoever, and the Italy's reaction was unnecessary and irrational.
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  Speaker 5: Now the EU will be assessing Italy's reaction, and in
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  Speaker 5: theory it could come up with a similar kind of
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  Speaker 5: review of it. But I think you'll see that the
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  Speaker 5: EU is trying to kind of keep a bit of
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  Speaker 5: a distance here. Remember that both Spain and Italy, big
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  Speaker 5: EU countries face elections next year, and I don't think
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  Speaker 5: we're going to see any sort of a making up
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  Speaker 5: and shaking hands between these two countries anytime soon. They'll
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  Speaker 5: probably continue to lock horns and to accuse each other
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  Speaker 5: of mismanaging or spreading the wrong kind of information.
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  Speaker 1: Well, as you mentioned, Rosie, migrant migration is a pressure
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  Speaker 1: point for Europe. To what degree is the Sayot incident
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  Speaker 1: being exploited by anti immigrant political groups.
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  Speaker 5: In Europe, we have seen far right activists descending on Sauta,
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  Speaker 5: putting blame towards Spain for policies including regularizing around half
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  Speaker 5: a million undocumented migrants earlier this year. Worth noting, the
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  Speaker 5: EU Commissioner said today there is no direct link that
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  Speaker 5: can be seen between that policy from Spain and these
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  Speaker 5: events that we saw unfolding in Sautum. But it's not
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  Speaker 5: just the far right of the political spectrum. We've also
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  Speaker 5: seen this center right here in Europe pointing to this
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  Speaker 5: as a reason why they say that more drastic migration
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  Speaker 5: measures are needed, particularly what they call so called return hubs.
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  Speaker 5: Laws have been changed in recent months to put a
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  Speaker 5: legal pathway in place for EU states to negotiate deals
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  Speaker 5: with other countries outside the EU, especially in Africa and
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  Speaker 5: the African continent, to have kind of centers set up
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  Speaker 5: outside the EU's territory where migrants could be sent to
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  Speaker 5: have their asylum claims process or even as part of
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  Speaker 5: a one way ticket out of Europe. Germany is one
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  Speaker 5: of the countries that is pushing for that. Migrant rights
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  Speaker 5: groups and watchdogs are very critical of that, and they
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  Speaker 5: say the EU there is essentially shirking its own responsibility.
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  Speaker 1: You mentioned solidarity, an expression of solidarity from the European
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  Speaker 1: Union towards Spain and this situation. We've heard EU officials
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  Speaker 1: declare that in this situation, but does that translate rosie
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  Speaker 1: into any kind of practical support for Spain that would
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  Speaker 1: demonstrate that solid aarity.
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  Speaker 5: Some practical supports, so Frontech's the EU's border agency, has
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  Speaker 5: around thirty officials on the ground in Saeuta now supporting
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  Speaker 5: authorities there. And we've also seen EUROPEOL so that's the
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  Speaker 5: agency that allows law enforcement across the EU to cooperate,
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  Speaker 5: getting involved also in investigating the causes behind this. What
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  Speaker 5: we did not see, Terry, and this is different to
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  Speaker 5: pass migration crisis we've seen, for example, the likes of
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  Speaker 5: on the Italian island of Lampaduza. We did not see
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  Speaker 5: the EU Commissioned President Ursula Vonderline arriving in Seuta to
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  Speaker 5: express solidarity. Instead, what we saw was quite a lot
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  Speaker 5: of criticism from EU states, and many felt that EU
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  Speaker 5: commission President Ersul of Wonderline was also being pretty critical
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  Speaker 5: toward Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister. As I said,
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  Speaker 5: a kind of change of tune what we've seen there
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  Speaker 5: today and now they are stressing solidarity, but does it
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  Speaker 5: really match up in terms of actions. I think the
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  Speaker 5: Spanish would say no, it doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: There's been a great deal of speculation about how this happened,
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  Speaker 1: that suddenly tens of thousands of people could just cross
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  Speaker 1: through that border between Morocco and say to is there
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  Speaker 1: any consensus now at EU level Having looked at this
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  Speaker 1: now for a few days on how this happened, Spain
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  Speaker 1: assists had no intelligence indicating that this was about to happen.
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  Speaker 5: The US Migration Commissioner was quite tight lipped on this.
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  Speaker 5: He said, we know that this crisis was fueled by
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: criminal smuggling networks, and also that disinformation spread online was
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  Speaker 5: to blame, but he really wouldn't go any further than that,
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  Speaker 5: just saying that Spanish and Europol investigations are ongoing. The
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  Speaker 5: Migration Commissioner was asked repeatedly if Morocco bears any responsibility
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  Speaker 5: for this crisis. Remember that back in twenty twenty one,
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  Speaker 5: Morocco did e some border controls into Seuta, which did
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  Speaker 5: result in thousands of people crossing, but that was as
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  Speaker 5: part of a diplomatic standoff with Spain. Interestingly, this time round,
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  Speaker 5: what you'll see is the EU officials are being extremely
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  Speaker 5: careful not to point the finger at Morocco, and so
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  Speaker 5: is Spain. In fact, the EU migration chief and the
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  Speaker 5: Spanish authorities are commending Morocco and praising it for what
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  Speaker 5: they say was its role in helping to stabilize the situation.
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  Speaker 1: Rosie, thank you so much. That was our correspondent, Rosie
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  Speaker 1: Berchod in Brussels.