Morocco had effectively opened its border with Ceuta, triggering a mass exodus. Thousands of Moroccans swam into the Spanish exclave. In an interview Fr. Claus Pfuff, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service Germany, classifies the causes and effects of the refugee flow.

You can listen to the whole interview here in the audio media library.

Please describe the situation in Ceuta.

The borders are being opened there right now to let people into the EU. You have to know that these people have been there for a long time. There are tens of thousands of people who are trying to get to Europe and among them, of course, very many minors.

So far, they have failed because of political borders and closed borders. But now, because of these political disputes about the treatment of the head of the independence movements for Western Sahara, Morocco has opened the borders as a counter-reaction and is letting people into the Spanish enclaves unchecked.

So does that mean that people in need are becoming a pawn in political disputes?

Yes, we see this again and again, especially in countries like Libya, Turkey or Morocco. They get support to keep the refugees there, not to let them move on or to push them back onto their territory. When political differences arise, the borders are opened for a short time to increase the pressure on the EU and to push through political issues.

So what we are seeing at the moment is actually just another example of the EU's policy of sealing itself off?

Yes, because the EU is paying money to various countries, including Morocco, giving support so that refugees do not enter the EU, but are stopped there at the borders. In this way, of course, the problem of the refugee issue is outsourced and passed on to these countries. The others then have to do the work and we just give the money or stooge services to keep it at bay.

In spite of everything, the isolation does not work. People continue to make their way. Why is that?

Ultimately, this planned deterrence does not prevent people from setting out, because it does not solve the problems in the countries of origin. Of course, for many this also means that the standard in the EU is higher than the standard of living in the countries of origin. Medical care or basic services alone are guaranteed here.

On the other hand, people often live in unjust systems and have no prospects for the future. So many young people, especially unaccompanied minors, set out to find a new future here, to escape the political pressure in their countries.

The only truly sustainable solution would be to effectively combat the causes of flight. Why has that failed so far?

On the one hand, it fails because the global political situation has changed, since common solution strategies are no longer sought at the negotiating table. It often fails because the economy also obtains cheap raw materials from these conflicts.

And the New Silk Road project is also changing situations in the countries again, a new colonialism is emerging again. This is also associated with new challenges or new problems in these countries, which continue to fuel the refugee flows. Climate change also plays a role and the associated disasters.

In what way?

Because often no more reconstruction aid is paid there. Because people say that these climate changes will mean that in the long term there will be no perspective for people to live there and that people will ultimately be left alone and thus lose their basis for life, their homeland.

The interview was conducted by Dagmar Peters, Domradio, Radio channel of the Archdiocese of Cologne