Title
Treads of solidarity along the border: Migration control and the social fabric in Ceuta
Abstract
This study analyzes whether there has been any evolution in how social organizations work in Ceuta, a city bordered by Morocco, and, together with Melilla, the only European city in Africa. Due to its geographical location, Ceuta has always been a migrant city, and now it is one of the entrances to Europe. Because of its migratory history, it is interesting to analyze the solidarity responses in the city. The research examines solidarity and institutional responses in three moments: the "fence crisis" of 2005, the Tarajal Tragedy of 2014, and the border incident of May 2021. Through a qualitative approach with interviews with workers of Ceuta's social organizations and a review of documents and reports, this paper seeks to analyze the evolution of the organizations, identify the barriers they face, and investigate whether the organizations are affected by migration policies. It uses the metaphor of "threads of solidarity" to illustrate how each organization contributes its "thread" to form a network of solidarity in support of people on the move. This work also highlights the importance of collaboration between social entities and helps to understand solidarity dynamics in a border region such as Ceuta.
Author
Diego Leal Dopazo
Keywords
Ceuta, solidarity, social organizations, migration control, collaboration
Universities and year
University of A Coruña and University of Osnabrück, 2024