EU eyes tougher border controls after Ceuta migrant surge triggers alarm

Migrants wait in line to receive food from the Red Cross, following mass crossings of migrants from Morocco into Ceuta, Spain (Picture credit: Reuters) European Union interior ministers on Tuesday called for tougher action against migrant smuggling networks and stronger return policies after around 72,000 migrants entered Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta last week, triggering alarm across the 27-member bloc.The emergency meeting came days after one of the biggest migration surges in recent years left at least 75 people dead, with many drowning or getting crushed during the chaotic crossing.EU pushes for tougher bordersEuropean commissioner Magnus Brunner said criminal smuggling networks and misinformation circulating on social media fuelled the unprecedented influx into Ceuta, one of the EU's two land borders with Africa shared with Morocco."There is an ongoing investigation of the matter (Morocco's role in the massive break) in Spain. So I ... can't actually comment on that any further but there was of course some disinformation by the smugglers and the human traffickers, that's what we know for sure," Brunner said.According to Reuters, ministers discussed a series of measur...