High stakes for Ireland's EU presidency amid migration row over Ceuta crisis

Interior ministers from the EU's 27 member states attended an emergency meeting on Tuesday at Dublin's invitation, with Ireland having assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union last month. 

Spain said it had returned “almost all” of the migrants who entered Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco. But the episode has reignited tensions between Spain and countries advocating a tougher approach to immigration, including Italy and Denmark.

The meeting saw Ireland attempting to reconcile sharply differing views, while also navigating a significant shift in its own migration policy.

Twenty-two EU states signed a letter expressing “deep concern” over the situation in Ceuta and criticising Spain's handling of the crisis.

The signatories included Italy, Germany, Denmark and Finland, while Ireland and France were among those who declined to sign. 

'Humanitarian emergency' as influx of migrants overwhelms Spanish enclave Ceuta Migrants in Ceuta wait in line to receive food from the Red Cross, following a mass crossings on foot and by sea from Morocco, 3 August.

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The decision reflected Dublin's plan for its role during its six-month EU presidency, in which it is seeking to present itself as capable of easing tensions and helping member states find common ground.

The country's Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, who chaired Tuesday's meeting, was tasked with steering discussions involving governments with markedly different approaches to migration.

Ireland has traditionally stood apart from much of Europe in the debate. Unlike in several other member states, the far right has so far gained little electoral influence.

But migration has become an increasingly prominent political issue in the country, as pressure on the asylum reception system has collided with a prolonged housing crisis.

Public frustration has grown, while racist and anti-migrant demonstrations have become more frequent.

EU ministers agree Schengen zone 'not the problem' in Ceuta migrant influx

Asylum reforms

The Irish government has responded by introducing what it describes as the most substantial overhaul of the asylum system in decades.

The reform strengthens checks on new arrivals, expands the use of biometric data and makes it easier to deport people whose asylum applications have been rejected.

The government has defended this tougher approach, arguing that it must address voters' concerns and prevent more radical political forces from exploiting the issue.

Immigration has consequently moved closer to the centre of the Irish electoral debate.

As The Irish Times recently wrote in an opinion piece column in May: “Some Irish people have concerns about immigration. If we don't listen to them, the populists will.”

Human rights organisations, however, have criticised the reforms, warning that efforts to accelerate asylum procedures could weaken protections. 

The Ceuta crisis has thus provided Ireland with both a diplomatic test and an opportunity to define its emerging position on migration.

Long regarded as being on the margins of Europe's most contentious immigration debates, Ireland has now been drawn directly into them – both as the country holding the EU presidency and as a government reshaping its own asylum policies at home.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Clémence Pénard, RFI's correspondent in Dublin.