Eighteen migrants have died this Friday morning in an attempt to enter Melilla on a massive scale, as confirmed by the authorities of the Moroccan town of Nador.
The victims have died due to crushing or suffocation, when an avalanche occurred and they were trapped in a valley near the border perimeter.
Others died when they fell from the fence, according to the same sources.
The death toll has increased as the 13 migrants who were in serious condition died, bringing the balance of injured migrants to 63, in addition to 140 Moroccan policemen who have suffered injuries (five of them are in serious condition), as confirmed by local authorities. of Nador.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), the most established in the country, reported, citing hospital sources, that six emigrants and two Moroccan gendarmes had died.
This last point, the death of the agents, is denied by local authorities in Nador.
The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior insisted that the official balance was - at least until seven in the afternoon - of five dead emigrants and no deceased agents.
In any case, this is the first massive entry into Melilla of irregular emigrants since the Spanish government reversed its policy on Western Sahara in March and openly favored the proposal for autonomy for the disputed territory, in to the detriment of the self-determination referendum demanded by the Polisario Front.
The deaths have occurred when hundreds of migrants have tried to jump the Melilla fence around 8:30 in the morning.
Some 500 people have managed to approach the fence, of the more than 1,500 who had approached the perimeter from the surroundings during the early morning.
Since 6:40 am, when the Civil Guard was alerted to the attempted entry, Moroccan agents have tried to contain the group's arrival, according to the Government Delegation.
Finally, 133 people have managed to cross by forcing the door of the border crossing with a shear.
Most have managed to gain access through the Chinatown border crossing.
After the entrance, on the Spanish side,
The alert was given from Thursday night.
During the San Juan festivities, the Spanish authorities had received notice of a massive entry attempt from Morocco.
According to government sources, some 1,500 Moroccan agents from other parts of Morocco have been deployed in the area.
Already at dawn, there was a strong clash between Moroccan troops, who have fired a multitude of smoke canisters, and the group that was trying to approach the fence.
"Rabat's collaboration is total," highlight the same sources, indicating that the Moroccans have communicated that they will accept all those that the Spanish authorities want to return.
The Moroccan Association of Human Rights of Nador has denounced on Twitter the "inhumane way" in which the arrests have taken place,
De cette manière inhumane entassés uns sur les autres que les autorités marocaines ont arrêté des dizaines de migrants subsahariens devant la barrière.
pic.twitter.com/jk0gAYbEbc
– AMDH Nador (@NadorAmdh) June 24, 2022
Once they have crossed the fence, between 50 and 70 migrants, most of them Sudanese, have concentrated in the Temporary Stay Center for Migrants (CETI) in Melilla, according to several witnesses.
Dozens of Sudanese compatriots who have been housed in the reception facility since March were waiting for the newcomers at the gates of the CETI.
The Popular Group in Congress has registered an initiative for the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to appear, to explain "the massive arrival of a thousand immigrants in a violent and organized manner at the Melilla border" last morning.
The PP Interior spokeswoman, Ana Vázquez, has announced her request on her Twitter account and has described as "inadmissible" the "abandonment of the Government and the abandonment of the security forces and bodies" that defend the borders .
“What was the use of changing the position on the Sahara?”, She has questioned her.
The Chinatown border crossing is one of the good neighbor crossings that remains closed.
According to the Government Delegation, they have forced access, despite the fact that the entry device is designed to make it difficult for more than one person to pass through a system of turnstiles and fences that hinder the passage.
It is the same entrance through which, until 2020, the so-called portage took place, which involved the departure from Melilla of thousands of people carrying packages of contraband to Morocco.
Sub-Saharan migrants run as soon as they jump the Melilla border fence.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
A Moroccan riot police officer points a missile at sub-Saharan migrants on the fence that separates Moroccan and Spanish territory in Melilla.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
Dozens of migrants pass through the Melilla fence that separates Morocco from Spain.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
Riot police cordon to prevent the advance of migrants shortly after jumping the fence in Melilla.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
Civil guards detain a migrant in Melilla shortly after jumping the border fence that separates Spain and Morocco.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
Sub-Saharan migrants celebrate their arrival in Melilla, after having jumped the fence, this Friday. Adriana Thomasa
A migrant runs across a field shortly after jumping the fence.
Javier Bernardo (AP)
Sub-Saharan migrants celebrate their arrival in Melilla, after having jumped the fence, this Friday. Adriana Thomasa
A sub-Saharan migrant, injured after jumping the Melilla fence, this Friday, June 24, 2022. Adriana Thomasa
A group of sub-Saharan migrants arrive at the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI) in Melilla, after having jumped the fence, this Friday, June 24, 2022. Adriana Thomasa
An injured migrant is helped after the jump, this Friday.
anthony ruiz
Migrants run through the streets of Melilla after jumping the fence, this Friday.
adriana thomas
The entry occurred around 8:30 am and after the Moroccan authorities had activated a strong deployment in the Chinatown area, a village attached to the fence where the houses are separated from the fence by just one road. Antonio Ruiz
A group of sub-Saharan migrants arrive at the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI) in Melilla. Adriana Thomasa
The Barrio Chino post is also heavily armored on the Moroccan side.
Spirals of concertinas rise like walls around the police stations at the gates of the crossing.
Despite the obstacles, some migrants have managed to climb the fence and have continued to trickle in until 9:30.
Some residents of the CETI have come to the area to later help their acquaintances, exhausted, to reach the premises.
The alert was given from Thursday night.
During the San Juan festivities, the Spanish authorities had received notice of a massive entry attempt from Morocco.
Moroccan security forces were deployed around the perimeter and at the point of approach.
Already at dawn, there was a strong clash between Moroccan troops and the group that was trying to approach the fence.
On Saturday, some 100 Moroccan agents were injured in a violent clash with a large group that had gathered in a wooded area on the outskirts of Nador, where migrants regularly harassed by security forces in Morocco usually take refuge.
Faced with the threat of an attempt to enter Melilla, Moroccan forces were deployed to disperse the group, which stood up with stones and sticks, according to the local newspaper
El Faro de Melilla
.
01:28
Sánchez praises the work of Morocco in Melilla
Video: Europe Press
This is the biggest jump attempt since March, when Melilla experienced a historic entrance.
About 900 people managed to access the city in two days (about 500 in a single morning);
more than 2,500 tried it, in broad daylight.
The local government interpreted that entry as a threat from Morocco in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.
Two weeks later, the Executive of Pedro Sánchez decided to give a historic turn to the Spanish position on Western Sahara and support the Moroccan sovereignist proposal of autonomy for the former colony against the referendum plan for its independence.
The movement recovered relations with Morocco, but opened a new confrontation with Algeria.
With information from
Óscar López-Fonseca
and
María Martín.
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