Voices are rising in Morocco to demand a “thorough” investigation after the death of at least 23 migrants during an attempted mass entry into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, located in Moroccan territory, while Spain strongly denounced “mafias” and “an attack” against the the its “territorial integrity”.
Twenty-three migrants perished during the attempted forced passage of nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants of African origin on Friday, June 24 in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in northern Morocco, according to an updated report published on Saturday. evening by the Moroccan local authorities.
After this tragedy, Moroccan associations are asking for an “in-depth” investigation. “We insist on the opening of an in-depth investigation to elucidate all the circumstances of this tragedy”, thus pleaded Saturday evening Omar Naji, in charge of the file of the migrants within the Moroccan Association of the human rights (AMDH ) in Nador, a city bordering Melilla, in the north of the country.
“It’s unheard of in Nador or in Morocco in general,” testified Omar Naji in an interview with AFP, reporting on his side of 27 deaths among migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. “A balance sheet which will undoubtedly increase in view of the violence of the clashes”, he underlined.
“An attack on the territorial integrity of our country”, according to Madrid
Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, described the drama as a “violent and organized (…) assault by mafias that engage in human trafficking, against a city that is Spanish territory”. “Therefore, it was an attack on the territorial integrity of our country,” he added during a press conference in Madrid.
A total of 130 migrants managed to enter Melilla on Friday, one of whom remained hospitalized, according to sources from the Spanish prefecture. They are mostly Sudanese, according to an AFP photographer who was able to speak to them.
Those who perished died “in jostling and falling from the iron fence” during “an assault marked by the use of very violent methods on the part of migrants”, according to Moroccan local authorities.
The human toll is by far the deadliest ever recorded during the many attempts by sub-Saharan migrants to enter Melilla and the other Spanish territory of Ceuta. These two enclaves constitute the only borders of the EU with the African continent.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reacted jointly to express “their deepest concerns” and recall the need “in all circumstances to prioritize the safety of migrants and refugees and “the importance of finding durable solutions for people on the move”.
“Do what is necessary for the victims on both sides”
In Morocco, NGOs helping migrants have joined the AMDH demanding a “transparent and serious” investigation. A major Moroccan trade union that also defends the rights of migrant workers, the Democratic Labor Organization (ODT), urged the government “to open an investigation into this tragic tragedy and to do what is necessary for favor of the victims on both sides”, illegals and police.
In Spain, an MEP from the radical left party Podemos, an ally of the Socialists in the minority government of Pedro Sánchez, echoed them. “An investigation is necessary to clarify the facts and responsibilities,” claimed in a tweet Idoia Villanueva, head of Podemos for international affairs. Many testimonies highlight the violence on both sides during Friday’s events.
It is the attempt to enter Melilla “the most violent I have ever seen”, said Rachid Nerjjari, a waiter in a cafe located in front of the fence that marks the border, in the Moroccan district of Barrio Chino. He said he saw “migrants armed with sticks and iron bars”.
The action of the Moroccan security forces also raises many questions. While acknowledging that the onslaught of migrants had been “violent”, Eduardo de Castro, the president (mayor) of Melilla and highest political authority in this autonomous city, thus denounced a “disproportionate response” from Morocco.
For Mohamed Amine Abidar, the president of the AMDH section in Nador, “the main cause of this disaster is the migration policy conducted by the European Union in cooperation with Morocco”.
On the spot, calm had returned on Saturday to Nador, a city bordering the Spanish enclave, as well as around the iron fence which separates Morocco from Melilla. And there was no trace of migrants in town. According to Mohamed Amine Abidar, they would have “moved away for fear of being moved by the Moroccan authorities”, generally towards the south of the country.
This massive attempt to enter one of the two Spanish enclaves is the first since the normalization of relations between Madrid and Rabat in March, after a diplomatic quarrel of almost a year.
