Marruecos, España y la Unión Europea acuerdan una mayor presencia de Frontex en la frontera sur

The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, his Moroccan counterpart Abdelouafi Laftit and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Sweden's Ylva Johansson, met this Friday in Rabat to renew cooperation agreements on controlling illegal immigration. The meeting came two weeks after the tragedy in Melilla in which at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants died, according to the Moroccan authorities' count. 

The meeting was an  occasion to give impetus to new border control cooperation policies, as well as to strengthen the role of the European Union on the land border it shares with Morocco in Ceuta and Melilla, in addition to the maritime border. 

According to the authorities, the meeting served to conclude new agreements that will enable a more effective fight against illegal migrant smuggling mafias, one of the greatest challenges facing the authorities. Both the Spanish and Moroccan governments pointed to these mafias as the main culprits in the tragedy that occurred at the Melilla fence in mid-June. 

The Interior Ministry communiqué speaks of strengthening the presence of European agencies on the border that Spain and the EU share with the Maghreb country, which could mean a presence of the Frontex Agency there. 

 This involvement of the European Union has been requested for years by the trade unions of the National Police and the Civil Guard assigned to the land borders of the two European possessions in Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, which year after year complain of a lack of means, personnel and material to manage the border in the best possible way "always guaranteeing respect for the security and life of all people", as trade union sources explain to Atalayar.

The presence of the European Union in the meetings can be interpreted as a very positive point for Pedro Sánchez's government, which in its relations with Morocco in recent years has always looked to Brussels as a guarantee to see agreements with Rabat flourish. For its part, Morocco is a key partner for the EU and Spain in controlling immigration.
 
"Morocco's National Immigration and Asylum Strategy (SNIA) is one of the most developed migration management systems today, both in legislative and institutional terms, and has allowed for the legalisation of the administrative status of thousands of migrants, as well as their integration into Moroccan society. Morocco was also one of the founding states of the Rabat process and His Majesty King Mohammed VI was appointed leader for Africa on the issue of migration by the African heads of state", explained Ylva Johansson's cabinet. 

The three interior ministers also took the opportunity to again lament the loss of life that occurred during the attempted fence jumping in June. "We have discussed how we can work together to avoid this kind of situation that we saw a fortnight ago. We have had very constructive discussions," said Johansson, who earlier in the week addressed the European Parliament's plenary session on the issue. She said on several occasions that she aims to see a new Migration and Asylum Pact drawn up in collaboration with African partners with a role in migration flows affecting the EU succeed.  

"We should welcome the agreements reached, which show that we are continuing to work together. We continue to regret the death of the migrants and wish for the recovery of the Moroccan gendarmes and civil guards injured in the assault. This situation has convinced us that we have to deal decisively with criminal organisations that use violence and migrants to make money," said Minister Marlaska after the meeting.