The European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, declared yesterday, Sunday, "deeply concerned" by the tragedy that occurred last Friday in the attempted crossing of hundreds of emigrants to the Spanish city of Melilla, as a result of which at least 23 people lost their while the president of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed his "shock and concern" last night at "the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants" and called for an investigation.
"I call for an immediate investigation into this matter and remind all countries of their obligation under international law to treat migrants with dignity and prioritize their safety and human rights, as well as refrain from excessive use of force," Mahamat said in a statement. a statement from the AU.
"The events at the Melilla border crossing are deeply worrying. Firstly, in the loss of life. Secondly, the forced and violent crossing of an international border can never be tolerated," said the European commissioner through her account. On twitter. "This tragedy underscores why we need safe, realistic, long-term pathways that reduce desperate and doomed journeys," Johansson said.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, also referred to the incident, when asked during a press conference in the framework of the G7 summit in Elmau (Germany). Michel conveyed his condolences to the victims and families of the deceased and supported Spain in its immigration management. "We fully support the efforts of Spain and other frontline countries to protect the borders of the European Union," Michel said.
The Algerian government denounced the "authentic summary executions" that it attributes to the Moroccan security forces. "The images of this carnage are extremely shocking," said the Algerian government's special envoy for Western Sahara and the Maghreb countries, Amar Belani, in statements to the Algerian news portal TSA. "They are an example of the extreme brutality and disproportionate use of force that resemble genuine summary executions in these circumstances," he said.
The Saharawi activist, Alternative Nobel Prize winner (2019) and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Prize winner (2008), Aminatou Haidar, condemned the "savage and inhuman repression carried out by the Moroccan authorities on the skin of hundreds of young Africans" on Friday at the border fence with Melilla.
"The result of this act has been the death of a number of people who, to this day, we cannot know for sure due to the blockade, opacity and deception practiced by the Moroccan authorities, as well as the absence of any independent and international investigation into the massacre," Haidar writes in a note sent to Efe tonight and which she signs as a human rights defender and president of the Saharawi Instance Against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM).
He also expresses in his note his "firm rejection of the infamous statement" by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, by "praising what he called 'extraordinary' work carried out by the Moroccan forces of repression." In his opinion, Pedro Sánchez, with this statement, "scoffs at all the international conventions related to human rights and actively demonstrates his commitment to support the dictatorial regime, the regime that violates international law and human rights in Morocco".
Sánchez regrets this Monday the deaths at the Melilla border in an interview in La Vanguardia. "We regret the loss of human lives, in this case of desperate people who were looking for a better life and who are victims and instruments of mafias and criminals who organize violent actions against our border," says the president. "The victims of the violent assaults organized by the mafias are the migrants themselves, the citizens of Melilla and Ceuta, and also the security forces and bodies of Spain and Morocco," Sánchez continues, reiterating his support for the Civil Guard and the Police and his gratitude to the work of the Moroccan Gendarmerie. "Morocco fights and also suffers from this violence," says the chief executive, for whom, "those most responsible for the tragedy that has occurred and the unfortunate loss of human lives are the international mafias that organize the violent attacks."
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will analyze this Monday with the leadership of the party the massive jump to the fence, a "terrible" situation that, according to the PP, requires "an explanation" by the Executive, according to sources. popular'. The Popular Group already registered last Friday a request for an urgent appearance in Congress by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to give explanations about the "violent and organized" arrival of "a thousand immigrants" at the Melilla border .
Hundreds of people demonstrated on Sunday in various cities in Spain against the government's immigration policy and specifically against the police action on Friday in Melilla and Nador.
The episode occurred when around 2,000 sub-Saharan people, the majority from Sudan, headed en bloc with sticks and stones towards the Melilla fence, on the border between Morocco and Spain, to cross it and enter Spanish territory.
A large array of Moroccan forces tried to stop the migrants with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets.
While the local authorities of the province of Nador (northern Morocco) confirmed the death of 23 migrants, the NGO Walking Borders raised that figure to 37. For its part, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) assured that there were at least 27 deceased. In addition, there were dozens of injured, of which 18 were still admitted to hospitals in Morocco this Saturday.
