Hundreds of protesters rallied Saturday close to Spain’s North African exclave of Melilla, bordering Morocco, to mark a mass try by migrants to storm the territory, by which at the very least 23 folks died.
The “marches for justice,” organized by a number of rights teams, denounced what they mentioned was the authorities’ refusal to research the causes of the incident.
At least 200 folks demonstrated close to the fences guarding Melilla, in accordance with Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists on the scene.
Activist Quinndy Akeju mentioned many households “had not yet identified or buried their dead” after some 2,000 migrants – many from conflict-torn Sudan – stormed the meters-high fence that seals off Melilla from Morocco on June 24, 2022.
She claimed there had been no “independent inquiry” into how Moroccan and Spanish police repelled them in one of many greatest tried migrant crossings into the enclave lately.
Protests had been additionally held in a number of cities in Spain, together with Madrid and Barcelona.
The Moroccan authorities says some migrants died after falling from the fences, whereas others suffocated as folks panicked and a stampede began.
But an Amnesty International report primarily based on testimony from the scene mentioned migrants had been hit with tear fuel, pelted with stones and crushed in addition to kicked whereas on the bottom.
Amnesty and different rights teams say at the very least 37 folks had been killed, with one other 76 migrants nonetheless lacking.
“To date, Morocco and Spain have failed to even release information to loved ones about the dead and missing or to acknowledge any wrongdoing,” mentioned an announcement from Amnesty.
Their failure to correctly examine the catastrophe amounted to a violation of worldwide regulation and human rights, the group added.
Both Morocco and Spain have denied utilizing extreme drive, blaming the migrants for the violence.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
