The European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, announced this Tuesday at the European Parliament that the agency that manages the EU's borders, Frontex, will be strengthened to have faster and more agile responses. This statement came following the irregular migrants crisis in July in Ceuta, which was debated in Strasbourg under the theme "hybrid attacks and instrumentalization of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect the EU's external borders."
In the last week of July, more than 70 thousand people entered the Spanish city of Ceuta, located in North Africa, illegally. The situation occurred after Morocco eased border controls from July 30 onwards, following a restriction determined by the Spanish Supreme Court on returns of migrants intercepted at sea. Several countries, such as Italy, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, requested Spain's suspension from the Schengen Area, considering the situation an instrumentalization of migrants to destabilize Europe.
The European Commissioner argued that the EU's response must involve "anticipating events," strengthening monitoring and improving alerts. Brunner considered surveillance of online platforms crucial, since mobilization through this medium happens very quickly. The Commissioner also asked MEPs to accelerate work on the directive on combating migrant trafficking, presented three years ago, reminding them that "traffickers kill people."
Brussels also intends to "intensify returns" of migrants with the entry into force of the new returns regulation, approved in June 2024. In November 2023, the European Commission had presented a legislative package to modernize the fight against migrant trafficking, which included setting more severe and uniform maximum prison sentences throughout the bloc and greater capacity for Member States to prosecute trafficking networks.
