The largest tragedy of its kind—the deaths of at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants trying to cross from Morocco to the Spanish colony of Melilla—raises questions about southern Europe’s immigration policies and its ties to North Africa.
Although Melilla is located on Spanish soil, it is 150 kilometers (90 miles) away from the Spanish mainland on the North African coast. The only land border between Africa and Europe is between it and its sister city Ceuta.
About 1,500 to 2,000 migrants who had been camping in the Moroccan mountains surrounding Melilla descended on the city’s border last Friday, a number of them carrying sticks, hoping to scale the border fences and therefore reach Spanish territory.
(VIDEO) Reactions After Death Of Many Africans At Morocco Spain Border
Many of them were crushed in the ensuing turmoil between the six-meter-high walls and Moroccan border guards, who attacked the migrants with tear gas and batons.
According to Caminando Fronteras, local NGOs have reported a greater migrant death toll of 37, despite Moroccan officials’ claims that 23 migrants and two police officers were murdered. Many of the injured, who number in the dozens, are reportedly being treated in Moroccan hospitals.
133 migrants in total managed to get in Melilla, where they are staying temporarily while their legal status is investigated.
A sudanese man, Karin revealed that “The Moroccan police beat us and killed our friends and I don’t understand why,” Amir, a young man from Sudan who reached Melilla, told elDiario.es news site.
“The Moroccans hit me a lot, the repression was very heavy. It’s never been like that before.”
Several hundred migrants were crammed together on the ground close to the border in video footage taken shortly after the incident and shared on social media by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).
Bodies were piled on top of one another, and there were clothes and bloodstains around. While a large number of the migrants looked to be hurt, many others exhibited no signs of life.
The AMDH stated that the remains of the deceased migrants had not been recognized or had had an autopsy when they were scheduled to be buried on Monday.
Recall in 2014 when 15 migrants perished while attempting to swim around the border fence to reach Ceuta.
Eventually, a judicial investigation into Spanish civil guards who allegedly shot rubber bullets and used tear gas in the area’s water was dropped.
