The Expert Council for Integration and Migration (SVR) views the mass influx, as seen recently in Ceuta, as an exceptional situation that no one anticipated at the time and should not be repeated. On July 30, around 60,000 people from Morocco arrived in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, mostly by swimming. According to Spanish authorities, more than 70 people died during this event. A large portion of these individuals has since returned to Morocco. What does this event mean for European migration policy and what should be considered? The SVR provides a brief assessment.

Berlin, August 6, 2026. “The arrival of thousands of people in Ceuta was an exceptional situation that no one foresaw. Unilateral blame does not help here. There is now a need for a careful examination of the background of the events. It must also be checked whether the planned new crisis instruments were implemented and utilized,” says Prof. Winfried Kluth, the chairman of the Expert Council for Integration and Migration. “In addition to the question of what triggered the mass influx and how the many deaths could have been prevented, it is also necessary to clarify how the EU should act in a similar situation in the future. Despite the unexpectedly high number of incoming individuals, local authorities managed to control the situation relatively quickly. However, such scenes should not be repeated too often for the acceptance of refugee reception.”

The reformed Common European Asylum System (GEAS), which came into force in June, indeed provides instruments for crisis situations. “In addition to the crisis instruments in the regular procedural order, there is now also a new crisis regulation that provides for additional instruments. However, this requires the activation of the crisis regulation,” Kluth explains. “It must also be checked whether the reception capacities at the critical points of the EU’s external borders, such as the exclaves, need to be adjusted within the framework of the newly planned planning mechanisms.” The fact that most individuals who did not arrive through official border crossings have already left the exclave of Ceuta does not mean that a new influx should not be anticipated.

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