Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

European Union ambassadors will meet next Monday in an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Ceuta, according to Belgian media reports in Brussels. This comes after hundreds of people gathered in front of the Moroccan embassy in Madrid on Friday evening to denounce the "invasion" of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which borders Morocco.

An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that demonstrators in the Spanish capital chanted "Spain is Christian, not Islamic!" and "National unity!" A large banner bearing the controversial slogan "Return Home" was also displayed.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Álvarez confirmed that almost all migrants who entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have returned to Morocco. The minister made this statement on Friday evening after some 60,000 people crossed the border in recent days.

The minister wrote on his website: "Travel from Ceuta and Melilla to the mainland is not permitted without showing identification at the police checkpoint. The security of the Schengen Area is fully guaranteed." He also condemned the "deliberate misinformation" surrounding the crisis. Despite the border closure, some 400 migrants entered the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

Álvarez's message comes in response to criticism from other EU member states. Italy announced it would impose border controls on all sea and air traffic arriving from Spain.

EU Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner, wrote on X that Álvarez told him during a phone call that "almost everyone who entered Ceuta has returned. No one has crossed into the EU mainland."

Police intervened at the Ceuta migrant reception center after hundreds of people tried to storm it.

Spanish National Police forces were heavily deployed at the Temporary Immigrant Reception Center (CETI) in Ceuta after hundreds of people tried to storm it, according to the Spanish news agency Europa Press. Five police vehicles were dispatched to the center after a report was received from inside. According to police sources, the situation was not yet fully under control, although officers managed to keep people away from the entrance gate.

The CETI center has been severely overcrowded for several days. On Thursday, the center was housing around 1,000 people, while its capacity is 512. Another 1,000 people have been staying in the surrounding area since Thursday.

Migrants are resting outside the Temporary Immigrant Reception Center (CETI) after crossing the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Portugal is seeking to strengthen border controls in the south. The Prime Minister of the southern European nation, Luiz Montenegro, announced this on Friday in response to the migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The Portuguese Prime Minister sees sufficient reasons to strengthen border controls, "by land and sea, especially in the south of the country." Montenegro emphasized: "The situation is serious, but I see no justification for suspending the rules of the Schengen Area."

Around 60,000 migrants attempted to cross the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Thursday and Friday. At least 57 people died during the attempt. More than 48,000 people have since returned.

In Belgium, in response to the exceptional situation in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, MP Francesca Van Bleegem of the far-right Vlaams Belang party submitted an urgent request on behalf of her parliamentary group for an emergency hearing in the federal parliament. She stated, "A crisis of this magnitude has direct repercussions for internal security, asylum policy, and diplomatic relations with Morocco and our European partners."

Van Bleegem added, "This is not a migration crisis happening in some distant place. What is happening in Ceuta directly affects our security, our asylum policy, and our foreign relations. Parliament must meet immediately to discuss this matter."

MP and Chair of the Committee on Internal Affairs, Ortuyn Depoorter (Vlaams Belang), continued, "This is not an isolated incident; it is an attack on Europe's external borders. If Morocco deliberately withdraws its border guards and sends thousands of migrants towards Europe, this is political blackmail." The federal government must respond to this matter decisively and unequivocally, and the only way to do so is through an emergency committee.

Vlaams Belang is demanding an emergency joint session of the Interior and Foreign Affairs committees, to hear from the Minister of Asylum and Migration, Anneline Van Bossuet (New Flemish Alliance), the Minister of the Interior, Bernard Quentin (Reform Movement), and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévost (Committed). This parliamentary group insists that the meeting be held next week, given the seriousness and rapid pace of the situation.