𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The scenes last week of thousands upon thousands of illegal migrants flooding across the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta are a stark warning of what happens when countries do not secure their borders. In just 48 hours, an extraordinary 50,000 illegal migrants entered Spain from Morocco. They were overwhelming young men. Ceuta is a small enclave located on the northern coast of Africa.

But politically it is part of Spain. Sitting at one of only two land borders between Africa and the European Union, it is a point of vulnerability enabling migrants from Africa an entry point into Spain and the European Union. There is much we still don’t know about the exact spark for last week’s crisis. Rumours seem to have spread on social media that the border could be crossed and Moroccan border enforcement seems to have been unusually lax.

But Spanish premier Pedro Sánchez also approved the ‘regularisation’ of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already living in Spain just a few months ago. In other words: a government that granted one of Europe’s biggest amnesties for illegal immigrants suddenly faced the largest mass illegal border crossing in the EU’s modern history. Coincidence? Unlikely.

This should serve as an urgent wake up call for our politicians. Spain has shown that if you present yourself as soft on immigration enforcement – if you turn a blind eye to illegality – many more people will try to come.

Spanish authorities have said most of the 50,000 have now thankfully been returned to Morocco. And yet Shabana Mahmood has rejected calls to follow Spain’s example of physically removing migrants from their territory using the military, claiming that the English Channel for some reason makes things “trickier”. “We have to process their claims for asylum first,” she has stated. This is simply dodging the tough action needed.

Meanwhile Andy Burnham, visiting Dover on Sunday, said that while his government would be “relentless” in tackling the small boat crossings, we need to provide “safe routes” as “we need to provide support for people that genuinely need it”.

This approach is to effectively let the same people into our country but try to change the manner in which they come here.

And, throughout his career before becoming PM, Andy Burnham has argued that asylum seekers should be allowed to work while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. This would add yet another powerful incentive to illegal migrants to jump on a boat in the hope of accessing our labour market.

It would be disastrous if Burnham were to push for such an approach now. The invasion at the Spanish border shows that border security requires a credible deterrent and tackling any pull factors.

Already asylum seekers cross the Channel because they think of Britain as a pushover. They have heard that they will get put up in a nice hotel and that once here they are almost guaranteed to be able to stay. The only way we will fix this is through immediate deportation for all who come here illegally. No ifs, no buts.

Last Wednesday we saw the highest number of small boat crossings so far in 2026, with 752 migrants crossing the Channel. Hundreds of unvetted men, arriving on the south coast in the space of just one day.

In response, over the weekend, Nigel Farage unveiled plans to deploy the Royal Navy to the Channel if Reform UK comes to power, with every dinghy intercepted and every illegal migrant returned to France.

This sort of zero tolerance approach is the only solution to this national emergency. And it must be accompanied with a total dismantling of the legal architecture currently tying our hands: that includes withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and other international treaties, and totally abolishing the immigration tribunal system and legal aid.

Lawyers should not be deciding who gets to come and stay in our country. That is a decision for the democratic government that the British people choose to elect. Every country needs borders. It’s time for our government to remember that. If they don’t, chaos awaits. And after what we have seen in Spain, they cannot say they have not been warned.

Ameer Kotecha is CEO of the Centre for Government Reform. He was formerly a senior diplomat, serving as the head of the British consulate in Russia 2023-25