Spain’s two North African exclaves, the cities of Melilla and Ceuta, have long been the target of many illegal immigrants trying to enter the territory of a European Union member state while avoiding the often treacherous sea voyage across the Mediterranean.
Over the years, there have been many incidents of large groups of illegals trying to cross into the two cities, both of which border Morocco and are protected by high walls and border fences, with one incident in Ceuta in 2021 seeing as many as 6,000 migrants storm the border.
While the route is largely safer than the sea routes to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands, which saw 643 reported dead or missing last year, an incident in Melilla on June 24th of last year saw at least 23 migrants crushed to death as African asylum seekers attempted to break into the Spanish exclave.
While the official death toll is 23, some argue that the actual number of deaths may be far higher, claiming that at least 77 people remain missing following the incident.
Now, a year after the incident, activist group Amnesty International is accusing the Spanish government and the Moroccan government of covering up the true extent of what took place last year.
Amnesty has claimed that at least 37 people, not 23, died and that at least 76 people remain missing, arguing that neither Spain nor Morocco has conducted an adequate and independent inquiry into the event.
“One year on from the carnage at Melilla, Spanish and Moroccan authorities not only continue to deny any responsibility but are preventing attempts to find the truth. Bodies are still lying in a morgue and in graves and efforts to identify the dead and inform their relatives have been blocked,” Agnès Callamard, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said.
“Barriers to truth and justice are also a reflection of the continuing harmful treatment based on race and migration status. Yet as hopes of finding the missing 76 alive recede, the demand on the authorities to provide truth and ensure justice for the victims and their families is growing ever louder,” Callamard added.
Amnesty accused Morocco and Spain of failing to identify and make public the identities of those who died as well as failing to state their causes of death.
The group notes that Morocco has conducted no investigation at all into the actions of its border force, while a Spanish investigation ruled in December of last year that Spanish border agents were not to blame for the deaths and could not face any criminal charges, such as reckless homicide. The Spanish prosecutor stated that none of the officials was aware at the time the migrants were being crushed and that they required help.
Both Amnesty and other groups, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), accused both Spain and Morocco of using excessive force during the Melilla tragedy, including deploying tear gas, firing rubber bullets, and throwing rocks, as well as allegedly leaving injured migrants for hours without medical attention.
Despite the allegations of excessive force from both Spain and Morocco and despite last year’s deaths, migrants still continue to make the illegal journey to Spain both across the land border and by sea.
Moroccan authorities announced last week that in the first five months of this year, they had intercepted over 25,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea and rescued 3,150 of them.
The country’s Interior Ministry also claimed to have dismantled 117 people smuggling networks since the start of the year.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR notes that as of June 18th this year, over 600 migrants have crossed into Melilla and Ceuta, 269 of them by land.
On July 28th, The European Conservative will host MEP Charlie Weimers, Ben Habib from Reform UK, and Pierre-Marie Sève, Director of Institut pour la Justice, to discuss migration policies and offer constructive alternatives to the EU’s ‘solutions.’ The event, Migration: Across Ideological Borders, will take place at the Silversquare working space, from 12:00-14:30. It is open to the public but registration is required.
