Brussels, Aug 3 (IANS) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday called for physical barriers and stronger border control at critical points along European Union (EU) borders amid the migrant crisis in Ceuta.

Local authorities said some 60,000 migrants had entered Ceuta, Spain’s autonomous city on the North African coast bordering Morocco, illegally in recent days by land and sea.

In a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, von der Leyen sought tighter security along critical points of the EU border and referred to an ongoing EU‑Morocco deal on migration aimed at preventing similar situations.

A meeting of EU Interior Ministers on the emergency has been convened for August 4. The request was made in a letter signed by 22 European countries, led by Italy and Denmark, but without France and Portugal, the two countries bordering Spain.

On Sunday, von der Leyen received the letter from the 22 countries and from Sanchez, accepting the request for an emergency videoconference to assess the crisis. She reiterated that combating illegal migration required solidarity and a united European response.

Prime Minister Sanchez, in his communication to the EU, criticised the positions of some countries on the Ceuta migration crisis and requested an urgent summit of Interior Ministers. The move followed Italy’s suspension of Schengen with Spain.

He asked the Irish Presidency for an extraordinary meeting, stressing that the security of external borders was a shared responsibility.

Sanchez asserted that Madrid had re‑established border control, assisted migrants, repatriated “practically all” irregular arrivals and prevented movements to other countries with little European support. He defended Spain’s migration policy, saying irregular entries had reduced, making Spain the “second safest external border of the EU.”

Spain fully deployed a floating sea barrier on Sunday along the maritime border of Ceuta as authorities tightened controls. Officials also reported that the death toll linked to the crisis had risen to 72.

--IANS

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