As a dispute between the two European Union states of Spain and Italy has intensified, Spain has now imposed border controls on all air and sea travel from Italy.
The border controls took effect from midnight GMT and will remain in force for the next month.
Madrid took the counter-measure a week after Italy imposed similar border controls on its Spain border.
Italy decided to impose controls on its Spain border after about 78,000 migrants recently entered Spain’s autonomous enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. Of these, more than 50,000 asylum seekers entered Ceuta from Morocco in the 24 hours from the morning of 30 July.
Italy’s decision angered Spain. On Friday, Madrid demanded that Rome withdraw its imposed border checks and controls by Sunday.
In response, Rome said the measures would remain in place at least until 15 August. Italy fears a fresh wave of migrants could reach Spain’s Ceuta around that time.
The migrant crisis in Ceuta has brought to the fore a dispute between Spain’s socialist leader Pedro Sanchez and Italy’s conservative leader Giorgia Meloni. Meloni has long favoured tightening the EU’s migration rules.
Spain has no land border with Italy. Italy’s government announced last week that it had decided to temporarily suspend free movement within the Schengen area so that none of the migrants who entered Ceuta could travel on to Italy.
Italian officials said local authorities conducting the border checks were doing “everything possible” to ensure maximum convenience for passengers travelling to Italy from Spain and other European countries via Spain.
Spanish citizens will be exempt from extra checks when entering Italy. Rome reiterated that the additional screening applies only to residents of countries outside the European Union.
But according to a report in the Spanish daily El Pais, long queues of waiting passengers have been seen at several airport terminals in recent days, with passengers arriving from Spain directed to a special screening line.
A Spanish government statement said the counter-measures Madrid decided on Friday would include checking the passports, nationality and visas of Italian passengers and visitors from other countries arriving from Italy. According to the government, the step was taken because the country is currently under continued irregular-migration pressure.
The statement added that the checks and controls would remain in force until 7 September, though the timeframe could be revised if the situation that prompted them changes.
Temporarily suspending the Schengen agreement is not new; Italy has already kept border controls in place on its border with Slovenia.
Italy’s decision to suspend the Schengen system for a month has been backed by Finland and Denmark. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, has called for Spain’s Schengen membership to be temporarily suspended.
Why thousands of migrants entered Ceuta is not yet fully clear. But the EU’s migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, said various criminal networks spreading false information could be behind the incident. The Spanish government has also agreed with this assessment.
A large number of migrants reached the Spanish city of Ceuta from Morocco after a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court. That ruling held that migrants intercepted at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be immediately returned to Morocco.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report