Thorsten Frei: Morocco instrumentalizes migrants

In view of the severe refugee crisis in the Spanish exclave of North Africa, Ceuta, Union parliamentary group vice-president Thorsten Frei (CDU) accused Morocco of putting Spain under pressure with migrants.

Berlin - "We are currently experiencing a similar drama as we experienced last spring on the Turkish-Greek border: migrants are used specifically to achieve foreign policy goals," said Frei to the Rheinische Post. In this case Rabat let the borders open in order to put the EU under pressure and to force a recognition of the sovereignty over the Western Sahara. "That degrades people to the plaything of big politics," he added.

"The events around Ceuta also show how fragile the situation is," said Frei. "The comparatively low access numbers that Germany had to record in the past few months shouldn't lull us into a false sense of security."

In the meantime, despite the advancing withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, he spoke out in favor of deportations. "The security situation in Afghanistan varies greatly from region to region." There are provinces and districts in which the situation is "comparatively safe" and in which millions of people go about their everyday lives, said the Christian Democrat.

"So there is currently no reason to refrain from returning to Afghanistan, especially since practically every decision is subject to judicial review." How the security situation will develop after the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr remains to be seen, said Frei.

Source: Der Newsticker

Photo: dpa/picture-alliance