On June 24, hundreds of people (1,700, according to official Spanish figures) tried to cross into Spain through the Barrio Chino border post, between Nador (Morocco) and Melilla.

They were mostly refugees from Sudan, a country subjected to brutal repression by a military junta and under the constant threat of civil war.

Among them, many had fled Darfur, a region, still in conflict, devastated by genocide in the 2000s.

At least 23 people died in that incident, the most tragic in recent memory at a European border.

There are still 77 missing, according to their families.

Five months later, an investigation by EL PAÍS together with Lighthouse Reports,

and

reveals new details of what happened thanks to unpublished material and the testimonies of 35 survivors.

Melilla

Mediterranean Sea

melilla

(SPAIN)

Nador

(MOROCCO)

border post

The next few minutes are the most critical.

Smoke and gas in an enclosed space make it difficult to breathe and see.

As can be seen in the aerial images taken by the drone and the Civil Guard helicopter, the boats fall from both sides of the border.

Migrants and refugees crowd.

Those who are glued to the doors strive to open them with a radial, first, and with a mallet, later.

Those behind throw stones to prevent the Moroccan agents from entering the courtyard.

witnesses to the tragedy

Of all the people who were at the border post that day, this investigation has interviewed 40 witnesses, including 35 survivors.

The protagonists of this story have been recognized in the images and their identities have been contrasted.

Some of their real names have been changed for security.

the crush

SPAIN

access to

spanish side

MOROCCO

SPAIN

access to

spanish side

MOROCCO

The survivors of the avalanche describe how the Moroccan forces responded to the emergency.

According to his account, at a critical moment the only priority of the authorities of both countries was not to save lives but to protect the border.

was one of those trapped under dozens of bodies.

In the video he exclaims: “My leg is broken.

I swear to god!".

Aboul:

“When we fell we couldn't get up anymore.

The [Moroccan] policemen came upon us while hitting us with different things.

[…] They were using sticks and a hammer, with which they also beat me.

The police beat people in a cruel way, some died, especially those who were above me.”

Ibrahim

was caught in the crowd.

He describes one of the hardest moments recorded that day.

In it appears Abdul Aziz Yacoub, a 27-year-old Sudanese who wore a striped polo shirt and whom his friends called Anwar.

In the images released on social networks,

lies on the ground on the Spanish side.

The Moroccan officers have a hard time dragging him, so they check if he is alive.

According to the conversation that is heard in the video, the agents affirm that he is dead.

Ibrahim, who was next to him, also claims that he had died.

Anwar's family maintains that he died.

Ibrahim: “That was

, I was close to him, we were stranded for almost an hour.

I remember when one soldier asked the other that he put his hand on Anwar's neck if he was dead.

The soldier replied: “Yes, he is dead”. Then they started picking us up and putting us on top of each other.

There was a strong gas bombardment that suffocated many people, then a soldier also hit him on the back of the neck and, when he couldn't breathe, another soldier jumped on his chest with his boots.

When they realized that he was dead, they collected all the rubbish [the remnants of clothing] and covered him up.

The violence was selective, [the Moroccans] were inspecting and those who were not injured were tortured.

[...] They did not leave anyone without injuries or fractures.”

On the Spanish side there were more injured people on the ground.

Ismail appears in the middle of two other boys, slumped against a blue door.

The young man tells that he came to enter Melilla, but the Moroccan guards shot him with rubber bullets.

He lost consciousness, he doesn't quite know when.

He remembers the boy next to him with his pants down after being dragged off.

Ismail is convinced that he died.

praying.

Ismail:

“[Once in Melilla] I tried to climb the fence again to enter another place because the Spanish were shooting at anyone who tried to advance.

When I started to climb, the Moroccans shot me [...] in the chest [...] and in the upper part of the ribs [...] I woke up already outside the post, while the Moroccan police were tying up people.

They tied us up with black plastic zip ties, it hurt a lot.

There was a boy who yelled that the tether was hurting him… Until he fell silent ”.

Witnesses in Melilla

SPAIN

MOROCCO

SPAIN

MOROCCO

Starting at 8:45 a.m., hundreds of migrants and refugees manage to leave the post and enter Melilla.

The civil guards contain the majority between the wire fence of the post and a guardrail.

As can be seen in the aerial images, some of the boys confront the agents with sticks and stones and they respond by spraying them several times with pepper spray and shooting rubber bullets.

As time passes, the group begins to weaken.

Several fall to the ground, apparently passed out.

100 meters from the place there was an ambulance that did not intervene, according to the Ministry of the Interior, for security reasons.

Three witnesses allege that they saw Red Cross personnel behind the police cordon, but that the Civil Guard prevented them from approaching.

Among the crowd was Sam, a young Sudanese man who says he was 16 years old at the time.

He was in the first row of people, but none of the images obtained allow him to be identified with complete certainty.

According to the certificate that he has provided, the teenager had requested asylum in Libya in 2020, where he spent two and a half years.

From there he tried to reach Europe by boat three times looking for a safe place to live.

Spanish and international legislation expressly prohibits rejections at the border (or direct returns) of minors.

Asylum application certificate to UNHCR registered by Sam in Libya.

“Whoever tried to move was shot with rubber bullets, many people were injured in that area.

They did not hurt me in Spanish territory, but they did in Moroccan territory, when the Spanish handed me over.

[In Spain] they sprayed me [with pepper spray], I couldn't see anything, my eyes were watering, my nose was running, I was losing consciousness.

Later, I found myself tied up as they took me to the Moroccan side.”

“There was a very narrow hallway to get us back.

Most of the people were lying on the ground and they forced us to walk over the wounded.

They beat us very hard [...].

There were many injured while others were unconscious, it was terrible.

Then, on the Moroccan side, the people were spread out, they beat us and forced us to walk on those who were on the ground."

Tied up for hours in full sun

Dozens of migrants and refugees who were trapped at the border post and another 470 who were returned hot from Melilla were dragged or on foot to the entrance of the compound, on the Moroccan side.

133 managed to escape from the police cordon, request asylum and stay in Europe.

SPAIN

operational area

Moroccan

MOROCCO

SPAIN

operational area

Moroccan

MOROCCO

Sam, the minor who turned 17 in September, recounts that, after being expelled from Melilla, the Moroccans beat him."An hour later I started to wake up and tried to realize what was happening, my head was covered in blood, then I looked around and discovered that I was standing on two dead people […]”, he recalls,

Among that pile of living and dead was also Abdou, who is seen, first, in Melilla and, later, on the Moroccan side.

Abdou:

“The violence continued until around 12:00, they gathered us all in one place, the dead, the wounded, those with broken bones, the beaten… Only a few managed to stay [in Melilla], but many were detained by the Spanish and returned to the Moroccan police, where they were violently beaten and continually insulted”.

Youssef,

a 25-year-old Sudanese who came to Melilla, describes what happened around him during the at least three hours that they remained without assistance in full sun, according to the analyzes carried out thanks to the combination of live broadcasts published on Facebook and images. by satellite.

Youssef:

“Some people were crying and said they needed a doctor.

They said they needed help, they were hungry, thirsty… [The Moroccan agents] said we were animals and we had to die.”

Hours later – the exact time differs according to the testimonies – Moroccan agents put the wounded on buses and take them to cities far from the border.

With their hands tied behind their backs, most spend the night traveling.

One of them, who was forced to go to Beni Mellal, more than 620 kilometers from there, died on the way, as confirmed by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).

His name was Abdenacer Mohamed Ahmed.

forced transfer

of migrants

and refugees

Melilla

Nador

Cup (4h)

MOROCCO

Fquih Ben Salah (8h)

Er Rachidia (7h 30m)

Beni Mellal

(8h 30m)

Chichaoua (10am)

ALGERIA

Ouarzazate (12h)

Tiznit (16h)

100km

(In parentheses, the approximate travel time

by car calculated on Googlemaps).

forced transfer

of migrants

and refugees

Melilla

Nador

Cup (4h)

Fquih Ben Salah (8h)

The Kelaa des Sraghna

Beni Mellal

(8h 30m)

Er Rachidia (7h 30m)

(9h 30m)

Chichaoua (10am)

ALGERIA

Ouarzazate (12h)

MOROCCO

Tiznit (16h)

100km

(In parentheses, the approximate driving time calculated on Googlemaps).

“[...] We were stuck on the bus for 10 hours.

In the morning they left us [in Beni Mellal] like animals, with no choice, no clothes... [We were] on the road, in the middle of the city and in front of the people….

They left us like this… hurt, ashamed, hungry, with nothing we could do.”

In August, Youssef got the money to get on a boat that took him to the Canary Islands.

He is now in France.

But most of his compatriots are still trapped and persecuted in Morocco, waiting for the next opportunity.

Official version

The Moroccan government has not responded to the questions sent by this investigation until the time of its publication.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior affirms that "none of the tragic events of June 24 occurred in Spanish territory."

And that in the face of the “extremely violent” attitude of the migrants and refugees [...] the Spanish agents “acted in a proportional and temperate manner”.

The Ministry of the Interior adds that to affirm that the Spanish agents "hit" the migrants and refugees is "flagrantly not telling the truth", that the Civil Guard helped all the people who needed it and who were within their reach and that did not hinder relief efforts.

The Ministry says that the return of migrants at the border was done in accordance with Spanish law.

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