Amnesty International released this Tuesday (13), in Madrid, a report that denounces the “mass murder” of dozens of immigrants who tried to enter Melilla, a Spanish territory that is located in the middle of the coast of Morocco.
According to the organization, the governments of Morocco and Spain are responsible and have been trying, for six months, to hide the truth. The incident took place on June 24, when around 2,000 migrants, mostly from Sudan, were trying to cross the border with Melilla irregularly.
The report states that “the methods used by the Moroccan and Spanish authorities contributed to the deaths of at least 37 people”. There would also be 77 missing. The NGO claims to have heard testimonies from immigrants present on the border between the Arab country and Melilla and analyzed videos and satellite images.
Moroccan authorities confirmed the deaths of 23 people that day. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, released a note announcing its “firmest repudiation” of the report, which would contain “extremely serious false statements”.
For Amnesty International, “some actions by Spanish and Moroccan agents may constitute violations of the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment”. Among these actions, the document described those of “beating people who were already immobilized, denying emergency medical attention to the injured and the repeated use of tear gas against people who found themselves in a fenced space from which they had no way to leave”.
“We are here to report a mass murder, forced disappearances, acts of torture, discrimination and racism, violation of the principle of non-refoulement. All this on European soil”, said Agnès Calamard, secretary general of the organization, during the presentation of the report in Madrid.
The complaint takes place two days before a meeting of the European summit in Brussels, this Thursday (15). Among the topics to be addressed, such as the War in Ukraine and the energy crisis, there is also a strategic discussion on ten non-European Mediterranean countries — Morocco among them.
In this context, heads of government from the United Kingdom and Italy went public this Tuesday to announce efforts to contain migration in the seas that surround Europe.
Briton Rishi Sunak struck a deal with Albania to crack down on the number of undocumented migrants arriving in small boats. The prime minister also said that, in early 2023, he will present a proposal for a law to prohibit the permanence in the United Kingdom of immigrants who cross the English Channel – Albanians are the majority among immigrants who use this route.
“If you enter the UK illegally, you cannot stay here,” Sunak told parliament. “Instead, you will be detained and quickly returned to your home country or a safe country where your asylum application will be considered.”
Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, known for her anti-immigration stances, told her parliament that the European Union should do more to stop migrant boats leaving North Africa. According to her, the EU’s relocation policy for immigrants is not working for the country.
“I don’t think it’s a solution to say that Italy should be the only landing port in the EU and then for every 100,000 people who enter, other countries take 30. I don’t think Italy should do alone what others are not doing. willing to do”, said the prime minister.
On Sunday (11), the country received more than 500 immigrants, when two rescue ships were authorized to dock. According to the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat, Italy received 8,500 asylum applications in September, while Spain received 11,000; France, 15 thousand; Austria, 16 thousand; and Germany, almost 21 thousand.
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