Civil Guards Call for More Border Agents as Ceuta, Melilla Crossings Set to Reopen

"Today, there are neither enough troops nor the adequate facilities to support the expected flow of people and vehicles" as soon as the borders reopen on Tuesday, May 17, warned Ernesto Vilariño, the general secretary of JUCIL, the Civil Guard union, in Ceuta on Monday, deploring that the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has not kept any of the commitments he made in the wake of the migration crisis in Ceuta a year ago.

The Tarajal border will reopen this Tuesday at midnight, without "the necessary security personnel to guarantee security in the city" and the integrity of the fence, denounced Vilariño, warning of the "chaos" that this reopening could cause, "because only two to four civil guards will be responsible for controlling the transit of more than 20,000 people and 3,000 vehicles", referring to the daily figures before the end of March 2020.

To read: Melilla Border Unions Call for More Staff, Resources Ahead of May Reopening

The union has already sent a report to the Directorate General of the Civil Guard, of which it plans to send a copy on Monday to the government delegation and the city council, in which it estimates that "about 200" additional agents are needed to "guarantee the safety of citizens" in Ceuta. Similarly, JUCIL is asking for the deployment of "between 60 and 70" specialized agents to monitor the border fence, while giving them sufficient means "to be able to effectively deal with any influx of migrants".

The borders of Ceuta and Melilla will reopen this Tuesday, May 17 at midnight. From this date until May 31, only EU nationals and residents will be allowed to cross the border. Thereafter, border workers with a foreign identity card or a special visa will be able to cross the Tarajal.