European barbed wire in North Africa symbolizes the painful dilemmas of international migration. Ceuta is a unique section of the European Union’s external border. The Spanish exclave in North Africa is surrounded by Moroccan territory. Ceuta is popular with Spaniards for day trips because of tax-free shopping. Morocco disputes the Spanish presence and regards Ceuta as its territory.
But Ceuta is mainly in the news because it is a favourite destination for African migrants heading for Europe. Migrants attempt to enter the city unnoticed so they can then board the ferry to Spain. To prevent this, Spain has built a barbed wire fence three metres high around the exclave. Sentries and patrols guard the frontier. At night the fence is floodlit and it is monitored by sensors and cameras. This makes the border around Ceuta one of the most heavily guarded external frontiers of the EU.
The border fence around Ceuta is a symbol for Fortress Europe. Whereas the opportunities for migration between the countries of the European Union have increased, it is more and more difficult for Africans to get into Europe in order to settle there. However, European countries do open their borders to (highly) educated workers of which there is a shortage, such as nurses, scientists and specialist technicians. Europe also allows in political refugees. But poor African migrants who are generally unskilled do not belong to the chosen. These economic refugees are regarded by many Europeans as a threat to their own position. These feelings plus the fear of a tidal wave of migrants preserve the policy of a Fortress Europe.
Nevertheless, pleas are regularly heard in political circles for a regulated admission of labour migrants. Although Europe and also the United States painstakingly guard their southern boundaries, migration need not only be regarded as a problem. Migrants, for instance, do work that the inhabitants do not want to do. And the arrival of migrants leads to cultural diversity which can encourage creativity and innovation. In addition, migrants send money to relatives in their country of origin. According to the World Bank this is an important impulse for the development of backward regions. The volume of these cash operations by far exceeds the amount of official development aid.
