Thousands of people are fleeing poverty, war, and other scourges of capitalism, and once again, the European Union, Spain, and Morocco are turning their borders into death traps. We need solidarity and immediate action in defense of migrants, for a world without borders.

By Rubén Tzanoff

The arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in Ceuta in just a few days has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis. Overcrowded shelters, people sleeping out in the open, numerous deaths during attempts to swim across, and heavy militarization of the border reveal, once again, the true face of so-called “Fortress Europe.” Governments, the media, and the far right portray these events as a “migrant avalanche” or a security problem. However, the reality is exactly the opposite: it is not migrants who are causing the crisis, but a capitalist and imperialist system that first expels millions of human beings from their countries and then denies them the right to seek a dignified life. This reality has been shaped by decades of domination and plunder by European imperialism, which now cynically feigns outrage at the consequences of its own policies.

The Real Causes: Plunder, Wars, and Poverty

No one leaves their home and family and risks their life at sea of their own free will. The mass migrations across North Africa are the result of decades of economic exploitation, foreign debt, the destruction of local economies, the appropriation of natural resources, and trade policies imposed by the major powers. Added to this are wars, the instability caused by imperialist interventions in the Middle East and the Sahel, the spread of conflicts fueled by those same interventions, and the increasingly devastating effects of the climate crisis, which hit the world’s most impoverished regions particularly hard. Millions of people are forced to migrate because capitalism has denied them any prospect of survival in their own countries.

The European Union is strengthening its walls, not human rights

Far from addressing the root causes of migration, the European Union has chosen to fortify its borders. The strengthening of Frontex, agreements to outsource migration control to third countries, and the European Pact on Migration and Asylum reinforce a policy based on militarization, deportations, and the criminalization of those seeking refuge. The EU allocates billions of euros to build walls, fund repressive forces, and strengthen surveillance systems, while cutting off legal and safe pathways for migration. At the same time, European big business continues to benefit from a migrant workforce subjected to precarious conditions, which is used to drive down wages and weaken the labor rights of the working class as a whole.

The Spanish government continues to pursue a repressive policy

The Spanish government led by Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE—with the complicity of Sumar—continues to manage the European Union’s borders through a policy of militarization and tighter immigration controls, with rhetoric that is barely nuanced but aligned with the reactionary policies of the PP, Vox, and Alianza Catalana. The “progressive” Sánchez has described what happened as a “violation of territorial integrity” and has announced the installation of “buoys on the breakwater” to create a visual barrier that will facilitate expedited deportations.

Hate speech has encouraged far-right and fascist groups to persecute and physically assault migrants right in the middle of the city, which is why we must stop them in Ceuta and prevent this from spreading to other cities, so that what happened in Torre Pacheco in the summer of 2025 does not happen again.

Immediate pushbacks, the permanent deployment of the Civil Guard and the Army, razor wire fences, and the enforcement of agreements signed with Morocco are all part of a strategy that prioritizes repression over the protection of human rights. The recurring deaths in Melilla, the new victims recorded in Ceuta, and the systematic repression against migrants are not isolated incidents. They are the direct consequence of a border policy that views migrants as a threat rather than as human beings fleeing desperate situations. No person is illegal!

Morocco uses migration as a political tool

The ultra-reactionary monarchy of Mohammed VI bears a central responsibility for this and other migration crises. While repressing workers, young people, social movements, and the Sahrawi people, the Moroccan regime acts as a guardian of Europe’s borders in exchange for funding and political support. At various times, the Moroccan regime has tightened or relaxed border controls depending on its diplomatic interests with Spain and the European Union, using thousands of migrants as a bargaining chip in bilateral negotiations.

The migrant population is thus caught between two equally reactionary policies: the Moroccan regime’s repression and the border closures pushed by the European Union. And looking ahead, the EU is adopting the reactionary model of far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which involves outsourcing deportations to what are effectively prisons outside the continent.

International Solidarity Against Racism and Militarization

The far right tries to exploit every migration crisis to fuel racism, divide the working class, and blame migrants for problems that stem from the policies of capitalism. In the face of this xenophobic rhetoric, liberal and social democratic governments respond by reinforcing the very same border control policies that fuel hatred and multiply tragedies. The response must be exactly the opposite: immediate rescue of all people in danger, an end to immediate deportations, decent housing, effective access to the right to asylum, regularization of those living and working in Europe, repeal of the Immigration Law, and termination of migration agreements with repressive regimes.

Address the root causes, not persecute the victims

As long as imperialist plunder, wars, exploitation, and inequality continue, millions of people will continue to be forced to flee their homes. No wall can stop that reality. The struggle against racism and for the rights of migrants is part of the working class’s broader struggle against capitalism. In the face of “Fortress Europe,” we defend unity among workers, full equality of rights, and an internationalist socialist perspective that puts an end to the root causes of forced migration. There is no such thing as “too many” migrants. What we have too many of are militarized borders, governments in the service of capital, and a capitalist system that turns the need to live into a crime.

Solidarity and mobilization now

In the European Union, there are sufficient resources to guarantee the social rights of all people, regardless of their place of origin; indeed, there should be even more for those fleeing economic, social, or any other kind of horror. The problem is that governments devote the substantial funds at their disposal to favoring the wealthy and business owners and to promoting the arms race for inter-imperialist wars. In a spirit of solidarity, immigrants should be welcomed into EU countries with full social and democratic rights. Political parties, labor unions, human rights organizations, and others must immediately call for a united mobilization in defense of migrants, their lives, and their rights. And self-organization and self-defense are necessary to protect the lives of immigrants in the face of fascist attacks!

In the face of this new humanitarian disaster—a manifestation of the path of barbarism toward which imperialist capitalism and “Fortress Europe” are leading us—we put forward a completely opposite alternative: No to austerity and military spending on inter-imperialist wars! Resources for the workers and the people who need them, no matter what country they’re from! Enough of capitalist and racist governments! Let the workers and the people rule! No to the imperialist European Union. For a socialist Europe and a world without borders. Life is worth more than weapons!

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