Jans says Ceuta crisis must never happen again

Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans said the events in Ceuta must never be repeated, after tens of thousands of young migrants were drawn to the Spanish territory by false information and raised expectations. Speaking to SRF, Jans said Spain had quickly regained control of the situation.

Jans made the comments after taking part in a virtual meeting of EU interior ministers, who discussed lessons from the migration crisis. He said the crisis had tested the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and that the Schengen area had passed the test.

“I was shocked,” Jans said of the images from Ceuta. He said people had died unnecessarily because false information may have been deliberately spread. The ministers thanked Spain for its response, which Jans called the most important message of the meeting.

Although the situation had created an impression of a loss of control, Jans said the opposite was true. Nearly all the migrants had since returned voluntarily, he said, adding that the situation had been brought under control and further suffering had been prevented.

Jans said the Schengen system was the best available solution to such challenges, rather than the cause of the problem. He rejected calls from the political right for individual countries to protect their own borders independently, saying no country could manage such a challenge alone.

He said joint protection of the EU’s external border and Frontex, the EU border protection agency, had helped resolve the crisis. A single country, including Switzerland if it were affected in the same way, would be overwhelmed, he said.

The spread of false information about supposedly open borders must now be examined carefully, Jans said. Switzerland should also develop proposals with the other Schengen states, including ways to control social media more effectively and hold it accountable.

Jans said the Swiss government was open to proposals for agreements with countries outside Europe under which asylum procedures could be carried out there on behalf of Europe. But he warned that the Ceuta crisis had shown how such arrangements could create dependencies and give third countries leverage if they were responsible for large numbers of refugees seeking to travel to Europe.

Switzerland also plans to introduce a preliminary procedure for people from countries where asylum applications have little chance of success, such as Morocco. Those who cannot claim grounds for asylum would be ordered to leave before reaching regular asylum centres, while remaining within the framework of the Refugee Convention and the Swiss Federal Constitution. Jans said the plan would be presented with the cantons later this year.