The African Parliament and Arab Parliament have both released official statements today in support of Morocco, shortly after the European Parliament passed a resolution blaming Morocco for the Ceuta migration crisis.
Morocco was blamed for the event based solely on a Spanish telling of events.
The Ceuta crisis consisted of a rush of irregular migrants that entered the Spanish Autonomous region of Ceuta earlier this month, with Spain leading the charge to blame Morocco for the predicament. However, many in the EU stood in opposition to the resolution, and blamed Spanish officials for stoking tensions with Morocco, a key regional security partner for the EU.
Arab League takes a stand
The Arab League’s top legislative body, the Arab Parliament released a statement on the EU resolution. It “called on the European Parliament not to involve itself.” The Arab Parliament, representing 22 Arab-language countries, stressed that “the crisis between the two countries is a bilateral crisis that can be resolved through diplomatic means.”
The statement added that the Arab Parliament “affirmed that the Kingdom of Morocco has demonstrated its keenness to calm this tension through several constructive initiatives,” mentioning King Mohammed VI’s orders to facilitate the return of unaccompanied minors from Ceuta earlier this week.
Africa unites behind Morocco
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) took a similar stance of solidarity in its statement condemning the EU resolution on the Ceuta crisis.
It asked the European parliament members to remember “the commitments made by the European Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament during the summit of chief of states and governments held in Abidjan in 2017.”
One of the agreements made during this summit, according to the PAP statement stated that the European and African bodies would resolveto “any problems between states arising from bilateral relations between them and the two parliaments can only intervene if the latter have debated the problem beforehand.”
The PAP then asked the EU to “refrain from any position likely to exacerbate tensions,” while requesting “the two parties to resolve the crisis in a purely bilateral framework.”
This desire for Morocco and Spain to handle the situation amongst themselves appears to be the most common request, as even several members of the EU have accused Spain of attempting to outsource its problems to the rest of Europe.
