five migrants They have died this Friday in an attempted massive jump on the Melilla fence, according to the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, they have also lost their lives two Moroccan policemen, according to the country’s Moroccan Association for Human Rights, citing hospital sources. According to the latest figures, 133 migrants and 189 police officers (140 Moroccans and 49 Spaniards) have also been injured after violent clashes.
[Pero más tarde, el balance de muertos ha ascendido a 18 personas fallecidas, según han informado fuentes de las autoridades locales de la provincia marroquí de Nador, contigua a la ciudad española ubicada en el norte de África. Así pues, las mismas fuentes han negado “categóricamente que haya ningún muerto entre las fuerzas de seguridad” marroquíes.]
Has been one of the most tense and dramatic days that are remembered on the border of Melilla. There have also been many moments of confusion, for now no one dares to definitively give the number of deaths and injuries. Throughout the afternoon, ambulances have evacuated people to various hospitals in the region. deaths occurred as a result of a stampede and that some of them fell from the top of the fence, as explained by the Maghreb authorities. In the Interior statement, they also explain that among the injured there are 13 migrants and 5 policemen are in serious condition.
massive jump
Early in the morning, around 2,000 people tried to reach Melilla. According to the Government Delegation of the city, they forced the access door of the Chinatown border control post and 133 managed to enter. Before they could reach the fence, there was also a important showdown between the people who tried to reach the city and the Moroccan police, in addition, there were a thousand arrests.
In different videos broadcast by humanitarian organizations, are seen dozens of people occupying the entire street and they advance towards the fence, many of them carrying sticks or other objects that have served to attack the authorities, in the background the firing of tear gas by the police and the sirens of the vans can also be heard. In a second video released by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, around fifty migrants are seen on the ground, many of them motionless, a few meters from the border and held by the authorities. “A real war on the Melilla fence that caused a catastrophic number of deaths for the first time & rdquor ;, this organization has stated.
Since a few days ago, Moroccan authorities have intensified their presence and arrests in the towns near Melilla. Many of the migrants had been sheltering for days in the forests and mountains near the autonomous city, waiting to try to cross. The last jump of the fence took place at the beginning of March, when some 350 people managed to access Spanish soil.
cordial diplomatic relations
Related news
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has described this entry as “violent and organized”, has also thanked the cooperation with the Moroccan police and has transferred his solidarity with the wounded agents on both sides of the border. It is the first massive jump since Morocco and Spain have resumed diplomatic relations after Spanish support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara. After this new diplomatic phase, the two countries agreed to reinforce the operation in the migratory field.
The Moroccan police have intensified in recent weeks the raids and arrests of migrants in different parts of the country, as confirmed by different humanitarian sources. These same people report that this pressure is causing people who try to reach Europe to have fewer and fewer possibilities and many are at the limit.