Outrage Boils Year After Deadly Spain-Morocco Border Crush

Madrid, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2023 ) :The death of at least 23 migrants during an attempt to cross into Spain's North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco one year ago prompted an outcry over police actions, but advocates say no-one has been held responsible.

Some 2,000 migrants -- many from conflict-torn Sudan -- stormed the metres-high fence that seals off Melilla from Morocco on June 24, 2022, and clashed with border officers, according to Spanish authorities.

Despite the clamour over the way Moroccan and Spanish police repelled them, no authorities in either country have been officially accused of wrongdoing.

"There is total impunity," Miguel Urban Crespo, a far-left Spanish member of the European parliament who has pushed for greater accountability in the case, told AFP.

"It's a terrible precedent for Europe, for Spain." The death toll from last year's tragedy -- at least 23 according to Morocco, at least 37 according to Amnesty and independent experts -- was the worst in years of attempted migrant crossings into Melilla.

At least 76 other migrants were missing, according to rights groups.

Morocco said some migrants died after falling from the fence while others suffocated as people panicked and a stampede started.

But an Amnesty International report based on testimony from the scene said migrants were hit with tear gas, pelted with stones and beaten as well as kicked while on the ground.

Both Morocco and Spain have denied using excessive force, and have accused the migrants of being violent.