The death of 23 African immigrants at the Spanish-Moroccan border has sparked outrage and a series of protests in Spain. As the only land borders between Spain and Morocco, Melilla and Ceuta are Spanish territories that serve as a crossing passage for migrants escaping a multitude of humanitarian conflicts.
On Friday, June 24, an estimated 2000 migrants that were camped in the mountain sides of Morocco began their journey down to the Melilla enclave to cross the border into Spanish territory. A two-hour violent skirmish erupted between the Moroccan border patrol and the migrants for what reasons are unknown. Many of these unfortunate migrants got stuck between the guards and the border fence, causing them to get brutally crushed. They got attacked with tear gas and batons amid the chaos.
The number of casualties have been fluctuating in the media, though Moroccan authorities initially reported 23 dead immigrants and two dead police officers. The Caminando Fronteras, a local NGO that defends the rights of migrants on the Euro-African border have reported otherwise, estimating a death toll of 37. Dozens of people were left injured, with many recovering in Moroccan hospitals.
The dead migrants were buried on Monday the 27th, with no procedures of identification carried out, according to the AMDH.
Pablo Echenique, the spokesperson for the Unidas Podemos party, a national Spanish left-wing political coalition made a comment on twitter stating “Spain must think again about a policy of externalizing its borders and blackmail on the part of Morocco which creates so much violence and suffering.” Echenique’s statement was made in regards to Pedro Sanchez, the president of the government of Spain, who supposedly favored Morocco’s claim for the Western Sahara territory in March.
Presuming recent events, the Moroccan government allegedly forced the hand of Pedro Sanchez to alter his decision regarding the Western Sahara dispute between Algeria and Morocco. Over 10,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta over a 36-hour period in May 2021. The Moroccan border guards did nothing to stop them. The government of Sanchez had hoped to empower Morocco by siding with them over the territorial dispute, thus prompting them to prevent the Ceuta 2021 event from occurring once again.
Spain’s stance on the dispute has only angered Algeria, which is determined to gain the area by all means necessary. This accumulation of events has resulted in the impulsive reaction from Moroccan border officers towards immigrants.
The Unidas Podemos and many other political institutions have called for a thorough investigation into the deaths of the migrants at the Melilla border.