Đurović on Ceuta situation: Hard to believe it was spontaneous, but it highlights a humanitarian problem

Radoš Đurović, executive director of the Center for Protection and Assistance to Asylum Seekers, expressed skepticism regarding the spontaneous nature of the massive influx of approximately 60,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco within a 24-hour period. He believes such a large, coordinated movement in a short timeframe suggests it was not entirely spontaneous.

“

It is difficult to believe that around 60,000 migrants in the last 24 hours was spontaneous, but at the same time it points to a humanitarian problem and the desperation of people who are willing to risk their own lives, as shown by the number of dead (at least 34), to reach a safe place, like the territory of Spain.

Đurović suggested that the surge in migration might have been influenced by Moroccan media reports about a Spanish Supreme Court decision. This ruling, he explained, could have been misinterpreted to imply a more lenient procedure for asylum seekers arriving by sea, leading to a surge in attempts to reach Ceuta by swimming.

“

That resonated in the Moroccan media and beyond, and was misused by various actors to create an image of people who want to reach Spain, that they can do so by swimming around the existing barriers.

Despite questioning the spontaneity, Đurović emphasized that the event undeniably highlights a severe humanitarian problem and the desperation of individuals willing to risk their lives, as evidenced by the reported deaths. He noted that these migrants are seeking refuge in Spain and the European Union out of sheer desperation, regardless of their specific status as refugees or economic migrants.

“

So many people in such a short time must have been informed, organized, and transported, so it is difficult to believe that this is a spontaneous movement of people in a short period of time, motivated by a misinterpretation of a Spanish court ruling.

Furthermore, Đurović cautioned that this incident could be exploited, particularly within European public discourse, to bolster anti-migrant policies. He observed that some are already using the situation to advocate for stricter responses to irregular migration across the EU, even suggesting Spain's exclusion from the Schengen Area.

“

This should be kept in mind, although this one incident is now being used extensively, primarily in the European public, to justify anti-migrant policy, that is, the policy of fighting irregular migration at the level of the entire European Union (EU), so we are witnessing threats that Spain be excluded from Schengen, that a harsher reaction be taken to this phenomenon, and some even link it to Spain's policy towards migration, that migration is solved not through fences and expulsions of people, but through integration systems, asylum procedures, and so on.