The unprecedented border crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has sparked a wave of political reactions across Europe. Far-right parties described the crossings as “an invasion” and a majority of European governments demanded a reaction from European Union officials.

In an urgent meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers on August 4, Magnus Brunner, the European commissioner for migration, praised Spain’s “swift response” but deemed its immigration policy as “definitely not a good signal for the rest of Europe”.

The emergency meeting was prompted by a joint letter signed by the leaders of 22 EU member states led by Italy and Denmark, and addressed to the European Commission, the European Council and the Irish prime minister, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

The open letter contains a number of legal claims, the veracity of which is questionable, as this article will show.

Uproar over ‘pull factors’ for illegal immigration

The EU members’ letter called for the elimination of all policies that could be “pull factors” to Europe. Pull factors are considered positive things that attract people to another country. Governments across the world, including Europe, have been using arguments based on pull factors (e.g. welfare benefits, job opportunities) to erode their asylum and migration systems.

Even though academic research has repeatedly proven the simplicity of these pull factors wrong, the myth refuses to die. Establishing whether a policy functions as a pull factor requires empirical evidence, and decisions to migrate are rarely explained by a........

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