In response to the invasion of 8000 Moroccan migrants to the Spanish enclave in the African territory of Ceuta, among the many statements made by European leaders, perhaps the most interesting was that of the vice-president of the European commission Marharitis Schinas who said in no uncertain terms that “L ‘Europe will not be intimidated by anyone. The EU does not give in to the blackmail of countries that exploit migration ”. Words that for the first time also clear customs at European level what now seems to have become a common practice by those who, like Turkey in the first place, but also Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and to a lesser extent Algeria, have been using migrants on their own for some time. territory (or in the case of Turkey, the Syrians pressing on its borders) to obtain diplomatic claims or substantial funding (Turkey in the last five years has received about 6 billion from the Community in exchange for closing its borders to the thousands of Syrians who aspire to enter Europe). In fact, the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had already entered into the issue of blackmail in June last year, when he declared that he believed that Europe cannot allow Ankara to exploit migrants to exert pressure on the other states of the community bloc. It is in line with this that it had decided to send its military to Greece to provide support on the border with Turkey.
But in reality, unfortunately, as on many other occasions, when it comes to migration, there is a risk that this outcry by the European institutions remains only a facade, given the age-old immobility on this delicate issue, which is left to manage independently by Spain, Italy and Greece. What happened in Spain, however, has some different connotations than in the past. For the first time, in fact, a head of state, Saadeddine Othmani, reacted to the Spanish decision to give hospitality to the leader of the Polisario front, Brahim Ghali, who has been on the road with Rabat for some time to heal the serious consequences of Covid. self-determination of the Saharawi people, that tribal people who inhabit the Western Sahara area, which is strategic from a geographical and economic point of view, due to its richness of raw materials and its strategic importance for fishing on the Atlantic Ocean. The leader’s hospitalization in a Spanish hospital was seen by Rabat as an affront and as a diplomatic response Morocco freed thousands of migrants to Spanish territory. “The Ceuta migrant problem is not just a Spanish problem but a European one.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, who immediately sent the army to deal with the emergency and to repatriate Moroccan migrants by hook or by crook. Yes, but as seen also with our country on this front, Europe unfortunately does not seem to feel us or at least shows a laxity in dealing with a problem, which instead concerns it very closely and which must find a solution, which cannot be that of putting his head in the sand, paying hefty rewards to those who, like Erdogan, have built on this part of their authority and their strength at the geopolitical level.
Suffice it to say that from 1 January to today, 12,894 people have landed on our coasts alone (triple compared to the same period of 2020 according to the Interior Ministry), and more than five hundred deaths. It is difficult, looking at the scenes of the collapsing hot spots of Lampedusa, not to agree with Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, who have long been asking for more intervention by Europe on the migratory front. For years Greece, Spain and Italy have complained about a substantial indifference of the European institutions, on the delicate question of the management of the migratory flow on their coasts. So many words, more or less facade agreements like that of Malta in 2019, which did not convince anyone with the automatic relocation mechanism for people rescued at sea, which seemed to be leaking from all sides, just to stay on topic, with very few countries willing to take on what is increasingly seen as a heavy burden. The pandemic with all its consequences has contributed even more to putting the issue at the bottom of the political agenda of European leaders, despite the fact that the flow of migrants has certainly not eased.
Now Draghi, who not surprisingly recently defined Erdogan as a dictator, is determined to put the migration issue on the table of European leaders, to finally try to find a square, perhaps starting, as it seems, from the agreements of Malta and do not leave the hot potato always in the hands of Italy, Spain or Greece. The question is certainly not easy to unravel, but think of solving it by submitting to the blackmail of Turkey, Tunisia, Libya or Morocco, and paying those countries for the management of migrants, obtaining the result that those funds are spent on issues that with migration they have little or nothing to do, it really seems a short-sighted and careless decision. Perhaps it would be more useful to stabilize countries such as Tunisa and Libya, using these funds lavished on them, to try to implement development policies in the countries of origin of migrants and make their situation less burdensome. Of course the task is not as easy as it seems but if you don’t even start you have the subtle afterthought that by doing so you don’t risk having to listen to those who, like the so much deprecated sovereignists, say these things and have been hoping for a long time.