EU urges stronger leverage on Morocco after massive Ceuta migrant influx

During a European Parliament hearing, EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner urged the Union to apply all available pressure, including visa restrictions and trade adjustments, to obtain Morocco's cooperation on migration control after about 72,000 people entered Ceuta last week. He warned that depending on the goodwill of a single neighboring state makes the EU susceptible to external influence. Spanish authorities, citing Ceuta mayor Juan Jesus Vivas, said roughly 100 migrants died and between 3,000 and 5,000 remain in the enclave.

Morocco's foreign ministry did not comment, while Lahcen Haddad of the EU-Morocco Joint Parliamentary Committee pointed to the country's record of preventing over 227,000 attempted crossings and dismantling more than 1,050 smuggling rings since 2023. The incident has intensified calls for the EU to advance its anti-smuggling directive, a proposal criticized by NGOs such as PICUM for lacking clear exemptions for humanitarian actors. Advocacy groups stress that the focus should be on creating legal migration routes rather than expanding punitive measures.