The head of the African Union Commission, the Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, denounced ” violent and degrading treatment of African migrants on Friday during a massive entry attempt into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, calling for an investigation into this tragedy which will be examined on Wednesday by the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, Morocco has decided to take legal action against migrants who tried to cross the border.
” I express my deep emotion and concern at the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants seeking to cross an international border between Morocco and Spain Moussa Faki tweeted on Sunday evening.
1/2: I express my deep shock and concern at the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants attempting to cross an international border from #Morocco into #Spanishwith the ensuing violence leading to the deaths of at least 23 people and injuries to many more.
— Moussa Faki Mahamat (@AUC_MoussaFaki) June 26, 2022
” I call for an immediate investigation into this matter and remind all countries of their obligations under international law to treat all migrants with dignity and to put their safety and human rights first, while restraining any excessive use of force added the head of the AU Commission.
Also in a tweet, Kenya’s UN Ambassador Martin Kimani announced that at the initiative of his country, supported by Gabon and Ghana – the other two African countries currently non-permanent members of the Security Council – , he was going to hold a closed-door meeting on Friday’s violent crackdown on migrants.
► To read also: At least 23 dead in attempts to cross the border between Morocco and Melilla
Diplomats said the session was originally planned for Monday but was eventually pushed back to Wednesday. It will focus on the deadly violence faced by African migrants entering in the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Moroccan territory, said the Kenyan diplomat. ” Migrants are migrants : whether they come from Africa or Europe, they do not deserve to be so brutalized “said Martin Kimani.
Asked during his daily press briefing about the tragedy that occurred on Friday, United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric confined himself to declaring that the UN “ deplored this tragic event and the loss of life which resulted.
Spain had previously welcomed on Monday the ” collaboration “from Rabat” in the defense of (its) borders “, while many voices are rising to demand an investigation into the deaths of migrants.
Morocco prosecutes 35 migrants
Moroccan justice has decided to prosecute 65 migrants, mostly Sudanese, for having participated in the attempted lethal force on Friday.
The prosecution of the Court of First Instance of the Moroccan city of Nador (north), bordering Melilla, charged 37 migrants for “ illegal entry on Moroccan soil », « violence against law enforcement officers », « armed mob ” and ” refusal to comply “, told AFP their lawyer Khalid Ameza.
A second group, made up of 28 migrants, will also be tried for “ participation in a criminal gang to organize and facilitate illegal immigration abroad “, added Me Ameza.
The lawyer clarified that the majority of the defendants were from Darfur, in western Sudan, in the grip of a serious food crisis and where recent violence has left more than 125 dead and caused the displacement of 50,000 people. Others are Chadians and Malians, one of them is Yemeni.
This is not the first time that illegal migrants, who camp in precarious conditions in the nearby forest of Gourougou, have tried to reach “the European El Dorado”. But this time, the unprecedented violence of the assault marks a turning point, according to migration experts. ” This is the first time that such violence on the part of migrants against the police has been noted. “, underlines Omar Naji, who has been following migration issues for years within the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) in Nador. For Oussmane Ba, president of the collective of sub-Saharan communities in Morocco, “ the difficult conditions in which these migrants live condition them psychologically to violence “.
At least 23 migrants died and 140 police officers were injured, according to Moroccan authorities, during an attempt to bring some 2,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in Moroccan territory. This toll is the deadliest ever recorded during the many attempts by sub-Saharan migrants to enter Melilla and the neighboring Spanish enclave of Ceuta, the European Union’s only land borders with the African continent.
About fifty NGOs, including the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) and the Spanish Caminando Fronteras, have denounced ” a tragic symbol of European Union border externalization policies “. ” The death of these young Africans (…) exposes the deadly nature of security cooperation on migration between Morocco and Spain “, they added.
The Spanish defender of the people (ombudsman), seized by NGOs, asked for an explanation ” to the services concerned “.