Voices are mounting in Morocco calling for a "comprehensive" investigation into the killing of at least 23 migrants in an attempted mass invasion of the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Moroccan territory.
Voices are rising in Morocco to demand a "comprehensive" investigation after at least 23 migrants were killed during an attempt to mass-enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla, located in Moroccan territory, while Spain strongly condemned the "mafias" and the "attack" on its "territorial integrity".
Twenty-three migrants were killed during an attempt to forcibly cross nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants of African origin, Friday, June 24, in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northern Morocco, according to an updated report published by the Moroccan local authorities on Saturday evening.
After this tragedy, Moroccan associations are calling for an "in-depth" investigation. "We insist on opening an in-depth investigation to clarify all the circumstances of this tragedy," appealed on Saturday evening, Omar Naji, who is responsible for the migrant file within the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in Nador. , a city on the border with Melilla, in the north of the country.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Omar Nagy testified that he was "unheard of in Nador or Morocco in general”, reporting 27 deaths among migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. He stressed that "the budget will undoubtedly increase in light of the violence caused by the clashes."
According to Madrid, "an attack on the territorial integrity of our country."
The Spanish Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, described the drama as "a violent and organized attack (...) by the mafia that traffics in human beings, against a city that is Spanish territory." "That is why it was an attack on the territorial integrity of our country," he added during a press conference in Madrid.
130 migrants managed to enter Melilla on Friday, and one of them is still in hospital, according to sources from the Spanish province. Most of them are Sudanese, according to an AFP photographer who was able to speak to them.
Those who died died "in a stampede and falling off the iron fence" during an "attack marked by the use of extremely violent tactics by migrants," according to Moroccan local authorities.
The casualties are by far the deadliest ever recorded during the many attempts by sub-Saharan migrants to enter Melilla and other Spanish territories in Ceuta. These two enclaves form the European Union's sole border with the African continent.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly responded by expressing their “deep concerns” and recalling the need “in all circumstances to prioritize the security of migrants and refugees” and “the importance of finding durable solutions for people on the move.”
"Do what is necessary for victims on both sides"
In Morocco, NGOs that assist migrants have joined the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in calling for a "transparent and serious" investigation.
A major Moroccan trade union that also defends the rights of migrant workers, the Democratic Action Organization, urged the government to "open an investigation into this tragic tragedy and do what is necessary for the benefit of the victims on both sides", the violators and the police.
In Spain, it was echoed by a member of the European Parliament from the radical left-wing Podemos party, an ally of the socialists in the minority government of Pedro Sanchez.
“The investigation is necessary to clarify the facts and responsibilities,” claimed in a tweet by Edoya Villanueva, Podemos Head of International Affairs. Numerous testimonies highlight the violence on both sides during Friday's events.
The attempt to enter Melilla was "the fiercest attempt I have ever seen," said Rachid Narjari, a waiter at a café in front of the border fence in Morocco's Barrio Chino region. He says he saw “migrants armed with sticks and iron bars.”
The work of the Moroccan security forces raises many questions. And while Eduardo de Castro, the mayor of Melilla and the highest political authority in this autonomous city, acknowledged that the migrants' attack was "violent", he deplored the "disproportionate response" from Morocco.
For Mohamed Amine Abidar, head of the Nador branch of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, "the main cause of this disaster is the migration policy pursued by the European Union in cooperation with Morocco."
Calm immediately returned to the city of Nador, which borders the Spanish enclave, as well as around the iron fence that separates Morocco from Melilla. There was no trace of immigrants in the city. 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.
The massive entry into one of the two Spanish enclaves is the first since the normalization of relations in March between Madrid and Rabat, after a diplomatic quarrel that lasted nearly a year.