The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, blamed the “mafias” on Saturday for the attempt of thousands of emigrants to cross the border Spanish-Moroccan Melilla, an “attack on the integrity” of Spain, he stated, that it resulted in the death of 18 of them on the Moroccan side.
“If there is a person responsible for everything that seems to have happened on that border, are the mafias that traffic in human beings“Sánchez said at a press conference in Madrid, avoiding criticism of the Moroccan security forcesof which he praised their collaboration to stop the crossing.
Sanchez said that It was a “violent assault (…) on a city that is Spanish territory. Therefore, it was an attack on the territorial integrity of our country.”
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“Secondly, I also want to remind you that The Moroccan gendarmerie worked in coordination with the state security forces and bodies to repel this very violent assault,” he continued.
The victims died “in a stampede and falling from the fence” that separates the Spanish enclave from Moroccan territory, explained a source from the Moroccan authorities, but Human rights groups in this North African country called for an investigation into what happened.
“We ask for a quick and transparent investigation,” said Mohamed Amine Abidar, president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) of Nadorin the north of Morocco.
The president of the autonomous city of Melilla, Eduardo de Castro, went further and condemned Morocco’s response to curb immigrants.
“These sub-Saharans invade a territory violently, it is not the first time, but we must weigh and have a certain proportionality on the part of MoroccoDe Castro told Spanish public television TVE.
Along the same lines, Sánchez’s government partners, the far-left party Podemoscriticized the Moroccan response, speaking of one of “the most serious humanitarian abuses in the history of our southern border”said the person in charge of international affairs of this formation, Idoia Villanueva.
Calm returned on Saturday in Nadora city bordering the Spanish enclave, as well as in the vicinity of the high iron fence that separates the Moroccan territory from Melilla.
There was no trace of immigrants in the city. According to Abidar, “They would have moved away for fear of being displaced by the Moroccan authorities”generally towards the south of the country.
First raid after diplomatic improvements
It was the first major illegal entry attempt since Madrid and Rabat overcame a diplomatic crisis and, according to local Moroccan authorities, was “marked by the use of very violent methods by the migrants.”
The latest attempts at massive penetration in Spain by one of its North African enclaves (Ceuta and Melilla)were at the beginning of March, before the thaw of Spanish-Moroccan relations.
The diplomatic crisis between the two countries broke out after Spain welcomed in April 2021 the head of the Saharawi independence fighters of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghalito treat covid-19 in a hospital in the country.
Morocco claims Western Sahara, a former Spanish colonyand the diplomatic crisis was closed when Spain abandoned its historical neutrality between Saharawi independence fighters and Rabat, to support the Moroccan plan for the territory, consisting of giving it autonomy.
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This change of posture it earned him numerous criticisms of the government of Pedro Sánchezand several opposition voices interpreted it as a concession to Rabat to stop the arrival of immigrants.
The height of the Spanish-Moroccan crisis occurred in May 2021, when, Taking advantage of the fact that the Moroccan authorities had relaxed controls, some 10,000 immigrants entered Ceuta.
