UPSC Key: Ceuta Migration, Live in Relationship and Organ Transplants

Live-in relationship a reality, law on cruelty to partner applies: SC

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Underlining that “live-in relationships are today, more or less, a reality”, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that not only husbands but men in live-in relations and their relatives too can be prosecuted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code for cruelty to their partners where such relationship is between two consenting adults.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is a Live in Relationship?

• Examine the legal status of live-in relationships in India.

• How has the judiciary interpreted Article 21 in the context of live-in relationships in India?

• Do you think that legal recognition of live-in relationships can help in women’s empowerment in India? Provide arguments for and against.

• Compare the status of live-in relationships in India with that in Western democracies. Should India adopt a similar legal framework?

• What lessons can India learn from France’s PACS (Civil Solidarity Pact) or Sweden’s cohabitation laws in regulating live-in relationships?

Key Takeaways:

• The bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice N K Singh said the provision is applicable to “live-in relationships” that qualify as “relationships in the nature of marriage” with “the intent to marry being established as an intrinsic part thereof”.

• The bench said a woman in a “relationship in the nature of marriage” shall be protected under Section 498A, giving the word “husband” a purposive interpretation, keeping in view “the reformative, corrective and socially beneficial intent of the Section”.

• “Cruelty, any which way, does not check at the door, whether the house it enters is that of a married woman or not. Once it enters, its propensity to destroy is aggravated,” it said. The bench also directed that the guidelines laid down against arbitrary arrests in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar case be “strictly applied” and no accused or his relative in such a case “shall be arrested without preliminary enquiries”.

• The judgment came on an appeal challenging a November 18, 2025 Karnataka High Court order which rejected a plea by a man seeking quashing of the case initiated against him at the instance of the woman he was allegedly married to in 2010. Although they were living together since then, the appellant Lokesh B H contended that they were not married and, hence, Section 498A would not apply.

• According to the FIR, the woman alleged that the appellant suppressed information of his prior marriage from her and he, along with his family members, harassed her for dowry and also caused physical injuries to her.

• Refusing to quash the proceedings, the Supreme Court said, “Whether or not this actually happened is a matter of trial. When the allegations are taken at face value, it cannot be said that they do not prima facie constitute an offence, not disclosing a cognisable offence.”

• The appellant argued before the top court that Section 498A being a penal provision must be interpreted strictly, confined only to a husband married to a woman in the traditional sense. The bench, however, rejected this.

• Writing for the bench, Justice Karol said, “The purpose of penalising cruelty by a husband and his relatives was to introduce a factor of deterrence against the reprehensible behaviour that was exhibited by such family members toward a married woman, which was not addressed by the existing laws at the time. The objective, quite obviously, was reformative, cloaked with punishment.”

Do You Know:

• Expanding the protection against domestic cruelty under criminal law, the Supreme Court has ruled that such protection, ordinarily given to married women under Section 498A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC), extends to women in live-in relationships as well, provided the couple shares an “intent to marry”.
Since the IPC has now been replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the judgment will likely apply to the corresponding provision in the new law: Section 85 of the BNS. The judgment, delivered on Monday by a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh, recognises that women facing cruelty in domestic settings cannot be denied the protection of criminal law merely because they have not undergone a formal marriage.

• Section 498A of the IPC penalises a husband or his relatives for subjecting a woman to cruelty. Because the provision explicitly uses the word “husband”, its application was traditionally restricted to legally valid marriages.
Over the years, the Supreme Court expanded this definition to cover such men who induced a woman into a marriage that is legally void or voidable — for instance, by hiding a previous subsisting marriage — holding that such men cannot claim that they were not a “husband” to escape prosecution for cruelty.

• This was what had transpired in the present case as well. The accused man approached the courts to quash a Section 498A case filed by his partner, arguing that since he was already married to someone else, his relationship with the complainant was not a valid marriage.
The Karnataka High Court rejected this argument, ruling that when “a man induces a woman to believe that she is lawfully married to him, and thereafter subjects her to cruelty, [he] cannot be permitted to evade criminal responsibility on the plea that no valid marriage existed in law.” This led him to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Live-in partner now protected against domestic cruelty: What SC said

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
1) Which Article of the Constitution of India safeguards one’s right to marry the person of one’s choice? (UPSC CSE, 2019)
(a) Article 19
(b) Article 21
(c) Article 25
(d) Article 29

New real-time portal for organ transplants: National wait lists, Aadhaar-linked pledges

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What’s the ongoing story: The national regulator overseeing organ transplantation has launched a dynamic, real-time portal and mobile application that will generate a country-wide waiting list and update the status of recipients waiting for organs.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Who can donate their organs?

• The organ transplantation in India-know the rules and present status

• New organ donation registry in India—Know in brief

• What is the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO)?

• Establishing a dynamic national organ donation registry in India—Why significant?

• What are the challenges faced in implementing a uniform policy for organ allocation across different states in India?

• Know the role of technology, specifically the collaboration between NOTTO and C-DAC, in improving the organ transplantation process in India.

• What are the ethical aspects involved in maintaining patient confidentiality while ensuring transparency in the organ donation process?

Key Takeaways:

• The portal will also allow hospitals, states and regional bodies to raise “super urgent” requests based on the condition of recipients.

• Officials said the portal’s launch, by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), marks a major step towards making the organ transplantation system more transparent, efficient and equitable.

• According to officials, the creation of a unified waiting list, real-time tracking of organ allocation, nationwide matching of swap donors and recording of transplant outcomes are aimed at reducing delays, improving accountability and maximising the utilisation of donated organs. It strengthens coordination among hospitals and states, streamlines regulatory processes, and promotes organ donation through Aadhaar-linked pledges, they said.

• The portal has also been designed to track outcomes of transplantation, with hospitals being asked to fill details about patients’ health parameters during their follow-up visits. At present, there is no national database on the outcomes of transplantation — hospitals typically maintain such data individually, and it is not available publicly.

• The Indian Express had previously reported that NOTTO was working with CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) to develop the portal. Now launched, the portal works simply.

• A key challenge remains: Different allocation criteria followed by various states.
For instance, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat have their own scoring methods, while West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Kerala prioritise those who registered earlier as recipients. Tamil Nadu follows another method, where the state is divided into three regional zones, with organs remaining within their specific zone and, if unutilised, allocated to other zones. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh give priority to patients who do not have a living donor, or whose matched living donor has refused to donate.

Do You Know:

• National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a National level organization set up under Directorate
General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
It has following two divisions:
—”National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network”
—”National Biomaterial Centre”

• “National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network” has been mandated as per the Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011. The network will be established initially for Delhi and gradually expanded to include other States and Regions of the country. Thus, this division of the NOTTO is the nodal networking agency for Delhi and shall network for Procurement Allocation and Distribution of Organs and Tissues in Delhi.

• Organs from deceased donors accounted for nearly 17.8% of all transplants in 2022 in the country. The number of transplants has increased over the years. The total number of deceased organ transplants climbed from 837 in 2013 to 2,765 in 2022. The total number of organ transplants – with organs from both deceased and living donors – increased from 4,990 in 2013 to 15,561 in 2022, according to data shared by the government. India conducts the third highest number of transplants in the world.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍For organ donation, new registry with waiting list which patients can track

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
2) With reference to the scientific progress of ancient India, which of the statements given below are correct? (UPSC CSE, 2012)
1. Different kinds of specialised surgical instruments were in common use by the 1st century AD.
2. Transplant of internal organs in the human body had begun by the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
3. The concept of sine of an angle was known in 5th century AD.
4. The concept of cyclic quadrilaterals was known in 7th century AD.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Stem cell therapy is gaining popularity in India to treat a wide variety of medical conditions including Leukaemia, Thalassemia, damaged cornea and several burns. Describe briefly what stem cell therapy is and what advantages it has over other treatments? (2017)

Nation

Vikram Sarabhai Medal for Annapurni Subramaniam

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

What’s the ongoing story: Astrophysicist Annapurni Subramaniam has been awarded the COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal – 2026.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Personality in News-Astrophysicist Annapurni Subramaniam

• Know about the COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal

• COSPAR stands for what?

• Discuss the role of women scientists in India’s scientific advancement

• Know India’s achievements in observational astronomy.

• Explain the significance of AstroSat in India’s space programme.

Key Takeaways:

• She is the director of Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, and holds the additional charge as director of the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS).

• The coveted medal was presented on Monday during the ongoing 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly underway at Florence, Italy.

• This international medal is awarded to scientists from developing countries for their outstanding contributions to the field of space research. It is awarded jointly by Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), an international body affiliated to the International Science Council and United Nations (through UN-COPUS) , and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The medal was constituted in 1990 in the honour of Vikram Sarabhai — the founder of India’s space programme and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Do You Know:

• Annapurni Subramaniam is the only fourth Indian to receive this medal, in addition to being the first Indian woman scientist and only the third female recipients of this honour. Among the other Indian recipients of this medal include ISRO scientist and director of ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory, Anil Bharadwaj (2024), Physicist Gurbax Singh Lakhina (2014) and eminent space scientist and former ISRO chairman, UR Rao, (1996).

• Subramaniam specialises in stellar physics, studies star clusters and nearby galaxies. She also works extensively on space and ground-based instruments used in astronomy. She made significant contributions and served as the calibration scientist for the Ultra-violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) onboard AstroSAt, India’s first space-based telescope launched in 2015.

• She is also involved in the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), in which India is one of the participating member countries in the international consortium. She is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and a member of the International Astronomical Union.

• COSPAR is one of the largest forums for space scientists and holds its scientific assembly biennially. The assembly generally sees a gathering of about 3,000 scientists from around the globe. COSPAR was established in 1958, soon after Soviet Union’s maiden launch of the first-ever satellite in 1957.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Two Indian space scientists honoured at international space scientists meet

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
3) With reference to ‘Astrosat’, the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statement(s) is/are correct? (UPSC CSE, 2016)
1. Other than USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space.
2. Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650 km above the surface of the Earth.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Explained

Why Iran war didn’t cause fertiliser crisis

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

What’s the ongoing story: The United States-Israel versus Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since February 28 have triggered arguably the greatest global energy supply shock in history, eclipsing even those of 1973 and 1979.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why the United States-Israel versus Iran war’s impact hasn’t been felt as much in India with regard to fertilisers?

• What data and statistics tells about fertiliser consumption in India?

• What is fertiliser subsidy?

• How much is the fertilizer subsidy in India?

• How is the subsidy paid and who gets it?

• What is the fertiliser requirement of a typical farmer?

• Know in detail about ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojan (One Nation, One Fertiliser) highlights, features, significance, issues, challenges and other alternative to this proposed scheme

• Why ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojan assumes significance in view of the sharp increase in the overall fertiliser requirement in the country during the last five years?

• What is integrated fertiliser management system?

• Soil Health Card and neem-coated urea-know about them

• Know more about Fertiliser Sector in India and Related Policies

• Fertiliser comes under Union List, State List or Concurrent List?

• Subsidy Mechanism in the form of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)-know more in detail

• Primary (Macro) Nutrients and Secondary (Micro) Nutrients in Fertiliser-Know the difference

• What is the fertiliser requirement of a farmer?

• What is Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP)?

• NPK in Fertilisers-Have you heard of ‘NPK’? What is NPK and Its Ideal Ratio in Fertilisers?

Key Takeaways:

• However, its impact hasn’t been felt as much in India with regard to fertilisers, especially urea. Data from the Fertiliser Association of India show the country’s urea production fell to 17.5 lakh tonnes (lt) in March 2026, compared to 24.7 lt in March 2025.

• The main reason was the supply disruptions in the primary feedstock, liquefied natural gas (LNG). Before the war, 53-54% of India’s LNG imports came from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), mostly against long-term supply contract agreements. These couldn’t be honoured due to shipping blockades, as well as damage to key liquefaction infrastructure from Iranian missile and drone strikes.

• Domestic urea output recovered to 21 lt in April. The next two months saw it further rise to 25.2 lt and 25.4 lt, so much so that cumulative production in April-June 2026, at 71.5 lt, was 5.4% higher than the 67.9 lt for the same quarter last year.

• “The credit goes to the government, which pushed GAIL (India) Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation to diversify their LNG sourcing, even if it meant pivoting heavily to spot market purchases at higher prices. So, even as the share of Qatar and UAE dwindled to near-zero, more LNG was imported from the US, Oman, Nigeria, Angola, the People’s Republic of the Congo and even Indonesia, Trinidad and Norway,” a fertiliser industry official said.
The same proactiveness was also seen in urea imports. The state-owned Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) and National Fertilizers Ltd floated tenders on April 4 and May 27, against which 25 lt and 17 lt of imported urea were secured at landed prices of $935-959 and $444.9-449.3 per tonne, respectively.

Do You Know:

• While the urea supply situation is comfortable, it’s not so with di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and complex fertilisers.
Urea meets the nitrogen (N) requirement of crops, just as DAP and muriate of potash (MOP) provide P and potassium (K) respectively. Complex fertilisers contain these plant nutrients — N, P, K and sulphur (S) — in different blends.

• It can be seen from the accompanying table that the production of DAP, complex fertilisers and also single super phosphate (SSP, a low P-content substitute for DAP) have registered declines in April-June 2026 over April-June 2025. Moreover, unlike in urea, their reduced domestic output has been combined with lower imports.

• India is one of the largest importers of fertiliser in the world, while China, Russia, and Morocco count among the biggest exporters. In mid-March, China banned the export of fertilisers to secure domestic supplies. Prior to the West Asia war, the Gulf nations of Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain had a share of around 40% in India’s urea imports.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Fertiliser subsidy burden set to double on global supply crunch

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
4) In India, in the overall Index of Industrial Production, the Indices of Eight Core Industries have a combined weight of 37.90%. Which of the following are among those Eight Core Industries? (UPSC CSE, 2012)
1. Cement
2. Fertilizers
3. Natural Gas
4. Refinery products
5. Textiles
Select the correct answer using the codes given below
(a) 1 and 5 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

5) With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2020)
1. At present, the retail price of chemical fertilizers is market-driven and not administered by the Government.
2. Ammonia, which is an input of urea, is produced from natural gas.
3. Sulphur, which is a raw material for phosphoric acid fertilizer, is a by-product of oil refineries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍How do subsidies affect the cropping pattern, crop diversity and the economy of farmers? What is the significance of crop insurance, minimum support price and food processing for small and marginal farmers? (2017)

Climate whiplash, fire clouds: The factors fuelling Europe’s massive wildfires

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: The wildfires that have been raging across much of Europe are among the most intense in Greece now. Last week, the fires triggered the largest peace-time evacuation in France and burnt through 172,000 hectares in Spain. Major blazes have also been reported in Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, among others.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is meant by forest fire?

• What are the geographical and climatic factors contributing to the frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe?

• Wildfire in Europe and Wildfire in Asia particularly India-Compare

• Analyse the environmental impacts of wildfires.

• What is the role of international frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework, in addressing the risks associated with wildfires?

• Discuss the policy measures and governance mechanisms needed to manage and mitigate wildfires in wildfire-prone regions like France, Spain, California or Australia?

• How winds impact the region’s ecology and climate patterns?

• Map Work-Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia

Key Takeaways:

• Scientists say Europe’s wildfires are increasingly being fuelled by a dangerous combination of climate change, rapidly swinging weather extremes known as climate whiplash, and decades of changes in how people use—and no longer use—the land.

• A large wildfire releases enormous amounts of heat. The hot air, along with smoke, ash and moisture from burning vegetation, rises rapidly into the atmosphere. As it climbs, the air expands and cools. Eventually, the moisture condenses around tiny smoke particles to form a towering cloud. If the fire is intense enough, that cloud can grow into a full-fledged thunderstorm, reaching 10-15 km into the atmosphere and even penetrating the stratosphere.

• While climate change is a major culprit, another reason for the devastating fires is the changing land use pattern in Europe.

• Over the past several decades, Europe’s countryside has undergone a transformation. Farms have been abandoned, livestock grazing has declined and many rural residents have moved to cities. The result is that large areas once kept open through agriculture and grazing are now covered with dense shrubs, young trees and dry vegetation. This creates a continuous layer of combustible fuel, allowing fires to spread farther and faster than they once did.

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says in a 2023 report points out that land abandonment facilitates vegetation encroachment and fuel accumulation. “Over the past century, land abandonment in the Mediterranean region has been associated with significant fuel build-up, which has contributed to an increase in wildfire risk in the region,” it says.

Do You Know:

• Wildfires have a natural role in the environment, clearing away dead leaves and branches and dense undergrowth from the forest floor, so nutrients in the soil are unlocked and new plants can grow. The spark to light the fire can be natural or human activity-related. The problem begins when the fire spreads uncontrollably, due to factors like a climate whiplash.

• Climate whiplash refers to rapid swings between weather extremes. In western Europe, an unusually wet period earlier this year encouraged the explosive growth of grasses, shrubs and undergrowth. That vegetation then dried out under successive heatwaves and drought, becoming abundant fuel waiting for a spark. Researchers say this sequence, of unusually wet conditions followed by intense drying, is becoming more common as climate change intensifies both ends of the weather spectrum. The California wildfires last year were also fuelled by this weather sequence.

• One of the most striking features of this year’s Europe fires has been the appearance of pyrocumulonimbus clouds, often shortened to pyroCb or “fire clouds”, which can generate thunderstorms that further enhance the fire.

• The wildfires have an economic as well as an environmental cost, as smoke impacts air quality for thousands of kilometres. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said in a July 30 report, “Wildfires threaten lives, destroy homes, infrastructure and livelihoods, and force entire communities to evacuate… In the European Union alone, wildfires are estimated to cost around EUR 2.5 billion every year, through damage to infrastructure, loss of tourism revenue and disruption of economic activity… Long after the flames are extinguished, communities continue to face the costs of ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, reduced agricultural productivity, public health impacts and the expensive restoration of damaged landscapes.”

• India, too, faces a growing wildfire risk. Forest fires are a regular feature of the country’s dry season, with the Forest Survey of India detecting thousands of fire incidents every year. Long-term analyses show the highest fire proneness is in parts of the Northeast, along with pockets of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and central and southern India, while Himalayan states such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh battle severe summer fires.

Bar graph courtesy: Forest Survey of India/fsiforestfire.gov.in

Wildfires in India

• Unlike many European wildfires, which are often triggered by lightning, a majority of forest fires in India are linked to human activity, whether through agricultural burning, collection of forest produce, or accidental ignitions.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Europe wildfires force 300,000 to flee as France, Spain battle massive blazes

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
6) The vegetation of Savannah consists of grassland with scattered small trees, but extensive areas have no trees. The forest development in such areas is generally kept in check by one or more or a combination of some conditions. Which of the following are such conditions? (UPSC CSE, 2021)
1. Burrowing animals and termites
2. Fire
3. Grazing herbivores
4. Seasonal rainfall
5. Soil properties
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 4 and 5
(c) 2, 3 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 5

7) Consider the following: (UPSC CSE, 2019)
1. Carbon monoxide
2. Methane
3. Ozone
4. Sulphur dioxide
Which of the above are released into the atmosphere due to the burning of crop/biomass residue?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree? (2014)

The Ideas Page

In Spain’s migrant crisis, fuel for Europe’s far right

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

What’s the ongoing story: The unprecedented influx into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco has alarmed political establishments across Europe.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What exactly happened in Ceuta?

• Where does this fit into European politics?

• Map Work-Ceuta and Morocco

• What caused the sudden massive influx?

• What does this have to do with Israel?

• What is migrant and refugee?

• What are the Push and Pull factors of migration?

• Migration-know its significance

• Migration-What are the challenges?

• How asylum is different from migrant and refugees?

• What are the International Provisions to Protect the Rights of asylum seeker, migrant and refugee?

• What is UN’s position on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers?

• Know about United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

• What is Global Refugee Forum (GRF)?

• What is India’s Refugee Policy?

• 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and India-Know in detail

• What do you understand by expression ‘right of non-refoulement’?

Key Takeaways:

• For politicians opposed to immigration, the episode was a godsend to bolster their arguments against immigration and reinforce a long-standing narrative. Spain’s relatively liberal approach to immigration, together with the policies pursued by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has also come under intense scrutiny.

• At least 72 migrants lost their lives from drowning or in a stampede. While Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast are part of the EU, they operate under a special external border regime. The episode has triggered a broader European debate over the Schengen system, despite the fact that the enclave itself is not part of the Schengen free movement area.

• Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has urged the suspension of Spain from the Schengen free movement arrangement. The Czech Republic, Finland, and Denmark supported Italy’s proposal. France and Portugal also tightened border controls. Spain responded forcefully to the Italian suggestion, dismissing the proposal as political demagoguery, and Sánchez has argued that the response of several governments was “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest”.

• By describing the migrant crossings into Spain as an “invasion”, Donald Trump is seeking to use the crisis to shape the immigration debate and rally voters ahead of the midterm elections. Europe’s far right has been equally quick to capitalise on the events. Right-wing parties in France, Germany and elsewhere are also expected to seize on the episode to reinforce their anti-immigration narrative.

• The abrupt onset and swift end of the crisis point to its close connection with Spain-Morocco relations. Like many European countries, Spain has long sought to balance its ties with both Morocco and Algeria, particularly over the contentious issue of Western Sahara.

• A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975. However, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), proclaimed by the Polisario Front in 1976, is recognised by many countries. Algeria supports the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and hosts the SADR government-in-exile.

Do You Know:

• Ceuta has been under Spanish control since the 16th century. It has a population of around 85,000 people, including Spaniards and Moroccans.
The past week saw at least 50,000 people attempt to cross into the autonomously governed city, including via sea. It is speculated that one factor driving this surge was a recent Supreme Court ruling in Spain that barred the forced return of migrants who reached the country by sea. But this did not mean that they would automatically be granted the right to live in Spain, or that they could not be deported later.

• Spain remains particularly vulnerable to Moroccan pressure because of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. A similar episode unfolded in 2021, when around 8,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta after Spain allowed a Polisario leader to receive medical treatment in Spain. The crisis prompted Pedro Sánchez to abandon Spain’s long-standing position of neutrality and endorse Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara, under which the territory would remain under Moroccan sovereignty.

• The 2026 crisis may, in turn, represent Morocco’s response to Sánchez’s recent rapprochement with Algeria. After years of strained relations, Sánchez recently visited Algiers, where the two sides agreed to strengthen political and commercial ties, including increasing Algeria’s natural gas exports to Spain. The European debate, on the other hand, has largely focused on Spain’s recent migrant regularisation policy, under which more than one million people have applied, and on the recent Supreme Court ruling on migrant returns, both of which may have played only a limited role in triggering the crisis.

• According to Aljazeera, Some observers believe that if Morocco did orchestrate the mayhem, it may have been encouraged by others, pointing at two leaders with a particular grudge against Sanchez – US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sanchez is one of Europe’s most consistently pro-Palestinian voices. He has explicitly said Israel’s war on Gaza is genocide, has been highly critical of the US-Israel war on Iran, and refused to allow jointly operated US-Spanish military facilities to be used to facilitate that war.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍As Meloni, Marine Le Pen threaten Schengen pause over migration to Ceuta, what are Europe’s stakes?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
8) Consider the following UN organisations/agencies: (UPSC CSE, 2026)
1. World Food Programme
2. United Nations Children’s Fund
3. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
4. International Labour Organisation
How many of the above has/have been awarded the Nobel Prize twice?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍How does illegal transborder migration pose a threat to India’s security? Discuss the strategies to curb this, bringing out the factors which give impetus to such migration. (2014)

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(b)  2.(c)  3.(d) 4.(c) 5.(b) 6.(c) 7.(d) 8.(a)

  

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