In response to the deaths of 23 African migrants who perished in a crush while attempting to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northern Morocco, protests were conducted on Saturday in a number of Spanish cities as well as in Rabat.
Numerous protests against immigration policy and the ‘militarization of borders’ were held in Barcelona, Malaga, Vigo, San Sebastian, and Melilla itself.
In the Moroccan capital, a few dozen representatives of the Collective of Sub-Saharan Communities in Morocco and associations helping migrants demonstrated in front of parliament calling for Rabat to “stop playing the role of EU policeman”.
‘We demand an end to the migration policy funded by the European Union, the opening of an independent investigation and the return of the bodies to the families,’ activist Mamadou Diallo told reporters.
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‘The Europeans colonised us and took everything from us to develop. Today, if we go to them, it means that we have the right to leave,’ he said.
Moroccan prosecutors have initiated proceedings against 65 migrants, mostly Sudanese, accused of having taken part in the mass attempt to enter Melilla from Morocco a week ago.
At least 23 migrants died when around 2,000, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, tried to break through the fence into the Spanish enclave, according to Moroccan authorities, while NGOs say at least 37 lost their lives.
The death toll was by far the worst recorded in years of attempts by migrants to cross into Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla enclaves, which have the EU’s only land borders with Africa, making them a magnet for those desperate to escape grinding poverty and hunger.
The tragedy has provoked international indignation, including an unusually strong response from the United Nations, and the opening of investigations by Spain and Morocco.
In Madrid, several hundred people took up the slogans of the “Black Lives Matter” movement and chanted “No human being is illegal!” and held up signs that read: “Borders kill.”
