"Morocco does not have land borders with Spain." This is how resounding the Moroccan Government expresses itself in a letter sent to the UN Human Rights Council in response to the clarifications that had been requested for the "excessive and lethal use of force" against migrants of African origin in the events in the border fence of Melilla on June 24.
In its letter, to which Europa Press has had access, the Moroccan government is committed to making the circumstances clear from the beginning, before defending itself against the statements made in response to the letter that several UN rapporteurs had sent in July asking for more information for the events of June.
Thus, they clarify "once again" that it is "inaccurate" to refer to "the separation line between Morocco and Melilla" as the "Spanish-Moroccan border", as they state in their text, since "the Kingdom of Morocco does not have land borders with Spain and Melilla it continues to be an occupied prison and for this reason, one cannot speak of borders, but of simple crossing points".
The affirmation of the Alaouite kingdom comes at a sweet moment in the relationship between Spain and Morocco, which last April began a new stage in the diplomatic relationship after the letter sent by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to King Mohamed VI affirming that the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara is "the most solid, realistic and credible basis" for a solution to the conflict.
Sánchez's meeting with the Alaouite monarch on April 7 issued a joint declaration in which, among other things, it was announced that "the full normalization of the movement of people and goods" would be restored "in an orderly manner, including the appropriate devices of customs and people control at land and sea level".
This would translate, according to the President of the Government himself from Rabat, into the reopening of the Melilla customs office, closed by Morocco unilaterally in 2018, and the opening of a new one in Ceuta, where it did not exist to date.
Although the Moroccan Government did not confirm this point at any time, it did not deny the Spanish Executive either and in fact the statements of a high-ranking Alaouite questioning the geographical viability of customs were subsequently downgraded.
On September 21, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced with his Moroccan counterpart, Naser Burita, at his side, that the intention of the two governments is that the customs will open during the month of January.
"We have agreed to work so that the beginning of the passage of merchandise in an orderly and gradual manner through the land customs posts takes place throughout the month of January", revealed Albares after the meeting held with Burita on the margins of the General Assembly from the ONU.
The Moroccan minister confirmed his country's intention to comply with what was agreed in the declaration of April 7 and said that the two countries will work for "an effective return to normality" in relation to the passage of people and goods through the land and sea posts, trusting that the necessary "devices" are in place "from the beginning of the year within the framework of frank cooperation between two partners and friends".
On the other hand, in the letter sent to the UN Human Rights Council -of which Morocco will be a member as of January 1- Morocco denounces the "unprecedented" migratory pressure to which it is subjected and accuses Algeria of "laxity "by allowing the passage through its border of thousands of immigrants bound for Moroccan territory.
Regarding the events of June 24, he denounces the dissemination of "false information" regarding what happened, maintains that the immigrants were organized and in many cases had military training, and denounces the "unusual violence" with which they acted.
As regards the actions of the Moroccan security forces, he stresses that the troops "were exclusively equipped with law enforcement equipment without any lethal firearms and no shots were fired" and they acted "in absolute respect of the principle of necessity and proportionality in the use of force".
Likewise, Morocco emphasizes that the deceased were 23 and not the 37 that is included in the letter sent by the UN rapporteurs, and that it was the figure offered by a local Human Rights organization, and ensures that the autopsies carried out on all of them they confirm that they died of suffocation in the avalanche and not by firearm.
Having said all this, the Moroccan government refutes the accusation of "structural racism and discriminatory treatment of individuals of African descent" - the main object of the letter from the UN rapporteurs - since the country has carried out "vast regularization of immigrants in an irregular situation".
Finally, it makes it clear that "Morocco has no responsibility for the return of immigrants in hot weather" but that "it is the responsibility of the Spanish authorities". "Morocco is only suffering the consequences of a phenomenon whose management alone has already shown its limits," he adds.
However, he points out that after the events of June 24, none of these returns took place and he assures that "Morocco opposes the group return of migrants and the collective expulsion of foreigners."
