Status: 06/25/2022 00:23
Again, numerous migrants tried to cross the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. According to the authorities, 18 people died. There were many arrests.
After around 2,000 people rushed to the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish North African exclave of Melilla, the death toll rose to 18. The authorities in the Moroccan province of Nador said that 13 other people had died during the night when they tried to climb the meter-high border fence. The number of victims had previously been five.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, people died in the crowd or by falling in front of the fence. 140 security forces and 76 migrants were injured, it said. The interior ministry accused the migrants of using violence.
Many of the people who were arrested are said to be of Sudanese nationality. They had come from the surrounding forests, where they had been gathering for the past few days, to then try to reach the Spanish city in North Africa together.
130 people entered the city
The representation of the Spanish central government in Melilla said around 2,000 people had tried to reach the city. However, they were largely stopped by both the Spanish Guardia Civil and Moroccan security forces.
Ultimately, a group of around 400 people tried to cross the border installations. Most of the 130 people who made it were housed in a temporary reception center. 57 of them were injured in the incident, as well as 49 security guards.
Sanchez praises cooperation
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke from Brussels and praised the cooperation between Spanish and Moroccan authorities to end what he called a “violent and organized attack” on the Melilla border fence.
According to Spanish media reports, 116 Moroccan officials were injured the day before when they tried to keep around 500 migrants away from the border facility. A police officer had to be treated in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Several hundred migrants had already managed to get to Melilla over the border fence in March.
Transition to the EU
Spain and Morocco only normalized their diplomatic relations in March. The long-standing dispute over the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco in 1976, had weighed on her for years. Last year, Morocco apparently relaxed its controls off Melilla in retaliation.
The government in Rabat claims both Melilla and the second exclave of Ceuta on the Strait of Gibraltar. In the vicinity of the two areas, tens of thousands of Africans, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, often wait for a chance to enter the EU. Usually several hundred people try to surprise the border officials and get across the border.
With information from Franka Welz, ARD Studio Madrid