EU countries have called for urgent action in response to the mass influx of irregular migrants

22 Member States— members of the European Union — have called on the EU leadership to provide an immediate and coordinated response to the situation in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which has recently faced a sudden mass influx of tens of thousands of irregular migrants. In a joint letter published on 1 August, the leaders emphasised that the European Union must ensure the effective protection of its external borders and prevent the perception that crossing the border illegally could be a route to legal residence within the EU. According to UA Service HUB, the document states that uncontrolled mass border crossings pose serious challenges to security, the work of border services and the EU’s migration policy. That is why the countries are calling for joint European solutions and a swift response to the crisis. The situation in Ceuta has once again raised the issue of strengthening the security of the EU’s external borders, reforming the migration system and coordinating actions between Member States. This issue is expected to be one of the key topics at the forthcoming meetings of European leaders. Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Africa, bordering Morocco. Together with Melilla, it is one of the few land borders between Africa and the European Union. It is for this reason that Ceuta has remained one of the main routes for irregular migration to the EU for many years. This week, the situation in the enclave has escalated sharply: thousands of people have attempted to cross the border with Morocco en masse, prompting a stepped-up response from border authorities and a new wave of debate in Europe regarding the control of the EU’s external borders and migration policy