The Ministry of Defense has ordered to keep available the military personnel stationed in Ceuta due to the risk of a new attempt of mass entry from Morocco. The measure includes the cancellation, until further notice, of leave permits, except in exceptional cases duly justified, according to a communication from the General Command of Ceuta revealed by Cadena SER.
The order affects logistics units, Regulars, Cavalry, Engineers, Artillery, the Headquarters Battalion, and health services. However, cancelling the permits does not mean that the military have taken control of the border nor does it automatically expand their competencies. Their specific intervention depends on the operational orders issued by the Government and the Ministry of Defense.
During the mass entry recorded on July 30, Defense and Interior announced that the Armed Forces would reinforce the Civil Guard. The military personnel were coordinated by the Operations Command and had a support function for the armed institute.
The legal basis for deploying the Army in Ceuta
The article 8 of the Constitution entrusts the Armed Forces with guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of Spain, defending its territorial integrity, and protecting the constitutional order. However, this provision does not turn any border problem into a military operation nor does it grant the Army general competencies in immigration matters.
The more concrete basis for their collaboration is found in the Organic Law of National Defense. The regulation allows the Armed Forces, along with state institutions and public administrations, to contribute to preserving the security and well-being of citizens in the face of situations of serious risk, disaster, calamity, or other public needs.
This allows for the deployment of military capabilities in a crisis without the need to transfer the competencies of the Civil Guard or the National Police to the Army. Their contribution is complementary or subsidiary and must be adjusted to the specific mission assigned to them.
What tasks can the military perform
The exact functions must be established in the operation orders, but the Armed Forces can provide capabilities that relieve the pressure on police bodies:
- Reinforce the presence and surveillance in certain areas under the established coordination.
- Protect military installations, critical infrastructures, or strategic points.
- Collaborate in the creation of perimeters and security cordons.
- Provide vehicles, communication systems, lighting, surveillance, and technical means.
- Carry out engineering work to install or repair obstacles and infrastructures.
- Facilitate the transport of personnel, material, and supplies.
- Provide healthcare assistance and humanitarian support.
- Participate in rescues, evacuations, or care for people in danger.
- Set up provisional facilities and provide logistical support to civil authorities.
The military can also secure an area and hand over intercepted individuals to the Guardia Civil or the National Police. However, they do not have a general authority to detain someone solely for an administrative immigration violation nor to process their return.
Any coercive action must be covered by the assigned mission, respect the principles of necessity and proportionality, and comply with the legal framework. The presence of soldiers does not imply a generic authorization to use force.
What the Army cannot decide
The Armed Forces cannot determine whether a person has the right to enter or remain in Spain. They are also not responsible for identifying and administratively documenting migrants as immigration authority, instructing return or expulsion files, or resolving international protection requests.
Returns, expulsions, and asylum requests must be processed in accordance with immigration and international protection legislation, with legal assistance, interpreter, and individualized attention. A military deployment does not allow for the omission of these guarantees.
What corresponds to the Guardia Civil
The Organic Law of Security Forces and Bodies assigns the Guardia Civil the custody of coasts, borders, ports, airports, and communication routes. In Ceuta, it is the body that occupies the front line of surveillance in the border perimeter, the Tarajal pier, and the nearby waters.
Their land and maritime units can detect attempts to enter, intervene at sea, rescue people in danger, and control access. They also maintain security in the border area and make located migrants available to the units responsible for immigration.
Although the Civil Guard has a military nature, it is part of the State Security Forces and Corps and, when performing these functions, acts within the scope of the Ministry of the Interior.
What corresponds to the National Police
The National Police is assigned the control of entry and exit from the territory, as well as the competencies over foreign affairs, immigration, refuge, asylum, extradition, and expulsion.
After a person is located, the agents can take care of their record, identification, and documentation, check their background, and open the corresponding administrative procedure. They also receive or formalize requests for international protection and determine, along with the other competent authorities, the applicable treatment for each case.
The intervention and citizen security units of the Police can also be deployed to prevent disturbances of public order within Ceuta.