Morocco: Dozens of migrants die while crossing the border

On the morning of June 24, Spanish authorities announced that about 2,000 asylum seekers had invaded Melilla and that more than 500 of them were able to enter the border control area by breaking the border fence.
 
The Moroccan government also announced that 18 people had died as a large number of African asylum seekers crossed the border between Morocco and Spain.
 
Contrary to official figures provided by the Moroccan government, the Moroccan Human Rights Association claims that a total of 27 people, including two Moroccan police officers, were killed in the incident.
 
Wolfgang Büchner, Germany's deputy government spokesman, called the incident shocking at a news conference, citing the deaths of a number of African asylum seekers crossing the Moroccan city of Melilla.
 
"It is shocking that so many people lost their lives trying to cross the border," Bushner said. More than 300 people are said to have been injured.
 The Moroccan Interior Ministry has accused the illegal immigrants of using violence and says they were citizens of sub-Saharan Africa.
 
According to the report, 133 migrants managed to cross two parallel border fences six meters high and enter the area under Spanish rule. The number of immigrants who have managed to cross the border is much higher in the pictures and videos posted on social media. These images also show the scale of the conflict between police forces and illegal immigrants.
 
It should be noted that North African countries such as Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco are used as departure points for illegal immigrants to reach Europe due to their proximity to the Mediterranean Sea.

 
_{Source: DW}