Five migrants have died on the Moroccan side of the border with Melilla in the attempt to jump over the fence of the autonomous city that occurred this Friday, according to local sources in the province of Nador.
In addition to the five deaths, there were also 76 injuries among the migrants, 13 of them serious. On the part of the Moroccan security forces, 140 Moroccan agents were injured, five of them seriously.
The sources indicated that the attempted access to Melilla was characterized “by the use of very violent methods” and that the five migrants died in a moment of stampede by the mass of people, estimated at 2,000 by the Spanish authorities, or because of from injuries sustained when he fell to the ground while climbing the fence. The version of the migrants and companions of the deceased is still unknown.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights of Nador has published a video on Twitter in which dozens of people of sub-Saharan origin appear lying on the ground, apparently injured and ecstatic, surrounded by Moroccan agents. “In this inhumane way, stacked on top of each other, the Moroccan authorities detained dozens of sub-Saharan immigrants in front of the barrier,” they said from the organization.
De cette manière inhumane entassés uns sur les autres que les autorités marocaines ont arrêté des dizaines de migrants subsahariens devant la barrière. pic.twitter.com/jk0gAYbEbc
— AMDH Nador (@NadorAmdh) June 24, 2022
All the wounded, both agents and migrants, were transferred to the Hassani hospital in Nador and to the university hospital center in the city of Oujda for treatment.
The Spanish authorities reported that 133 people managed to gain access to Melilla and counted 49 Civil Guard agents and 57 injured migrants on the Spanish side, of which three had to be transferred to the Regional Hospital.
This is the first jump over the fence that has taken place after the new stage in diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco. In recent days, in the vicinity of the border on the Moroccan side, there had already been clashes between people trying to approach Melilla and agents from different Moroccan security forces. The Government Delegation in Melilla has highlighted the “collaboration” used between the Spanish and Moroccan security forces: “Despite the extensive device of the Moroccan Forces, which have collaborated actively and in a coordinated manner with the State Security Forces and Bodies , at 8:40 a.m. the jump has occurred ”, they defend from the Government Delegation in Melilla.
Congratulations from Sanchez
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has also congratulated the “cooperation” of the device activated between Spain and Morocco to stop the jump attempt, described as a “violent assault”. “We must be aware that Morocco also suffers from migratory pressure from other African countries, and in particular from the unstable Sahel area,” said Sánchez before the number of deaths on the Moroccan side of the border was made public. “Look at the images, in which the gendarmerie has gone to great lengths to try to prevent violent assault. It is important to recognize the extraordinary work of the Armed Forces and security forces in Melilla and Ceuta, and the fight against irregular migration in general, and also by the Moroccan Government in coordination with us to try to stop a violent assault, which has been well organized, perpetrated, and well resolved by the two security forces.”
www.eldiario.es