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European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier confirmed on Thursday that discussions between Spain and Brussels were at “full speed” regarding extra financial support for Ceuta after 72,000 individuals stormed the Spanish exclave from Morocco last week.
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Responding to a question asked by Euronews, Mercier said the EU executive received the first needs assessment from Spain on Wednesday.
Technical discussions occurred earlier in the week, with Brussels now reviewing the assessment. “Then, the next step will be actually for Spain to make an application and submit formally to the Commission,” he said.
The new funding could cover border management equipment and services, as well as humanitarian and medical assistance for those in Ceuta, with Mercier saying Brussels sees a need for additional support “in view of the current situation.”
In practice, funding could be used for items such as temporary shelters, food, medical assistance, emergency personnel and other humanitarian support, depending on Spain’s application.
The application has not yet been finalised, nor has the amount of funding requested.
Spanish officials said on Monday that 70,000 individuals had already returned to Morocco after last week’s deadly episode, which resulted in at least 88 deaths.
Despite this, up to 5,000 individuals, including 860 unaccompanied minors, have remained, according to Juan Vivas, the president of Ceuta.
Non-governmental organisation Luna Blanca has distributed more than 12,000 meals to migrants in Ceuta in recent days. Luna Blanca’s president Mustafa Abdelcader told Euronews“the institutions aren’t prepared to deal with” this type of crisis.
“We’re talking about an influx of some 60,000 or 70,000 people,” he said, adding “we’re almost at the same level as the city’s population.” A social worker from the organisation said children were arriving with heatstroke and suffering from hunger.
Following an extraordinary meeting convened to discuss the migration crisis on Tuesday, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner confirmed that the current long-term budget, also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework, had funds available for Spain and Ceuta.
“Spain received an additional €114 million allocation through emergency assistance,” he said.
“This includes approximately €28 million to further reinforce reception, asylum and return systems in Ceuta, so this is especially used there.”
At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, which many EU diplomats had expected to be turbulent, Brunner reiterated that Europe stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Spain. If this was a “test” of EU resilience, the bloc survived, he said.