The balance sheet is heavy. After a night of tension, more than 2,000 sub-Saharan migrants tried to cross the fence separating Melilla [ville autonome espagnole située en périphérie de l’agglomération marocaine de Nador] Morocco in the early morning of Friday June 24. All along this iron curtain, Moroccan anti-riot forces (combining police, auxiliary forces and royal gendarmerie) are trying somehow to repel the thousands of migrants determined to force their way through. Clashes, distress and despair then trigger an end-of-the-world atmosphere.
“We have never seen such a violent surge”
On one of the videos, a migrant ready to fight shouts in English: “We are no longer afraid of dying!” Chaos reaches the border point after the massive escalation of the mesh barriers, bristling with barbed wire. In general panic, migrants force the Barrio Chino border post [littéralement “Quartier chinois”, l’un des quatre postes-frontières entre Melilla et le territoire marocain, avec Beni Ensar, Farhana et Mari Guari]. A cul-de-sac where, in normal times, steel turnstiles curb entry and exit flows. It’s the crowding in these long closed corridors. The tragedy occurs.
Around 5 p.m., an initial assessment reported 5 dead. “We have never seen such a violent surge”, ensures to TelQuel a source close to the Interior Ministry. Asphyxiation and fainting… The incursion into this disused passage was dramatic for hundreds of them, piled on top of each other in a mouse hole.
A deadly trap
On Friday evening, Barrio Chino turns into a death trap for the hundreds of migrants who gather there, with the death toll at 23, according to the authorities [37, selon certaines ONG locales]. How did we get here ? Contacted by TelQuel, the president of the AMDH section [Association marocaine des droits humains] Nador, Omar Naji, followed the sad events.
“We were the first to say that the migrants’ attempt was very violent this time.”
On the videos, we see sticks, large stones, hooks to climb the fence, and even vests, helmets and shields recovered during the clashes. Why such tension? “Right after the restoration of Moroccan-Spanish relations, we observed