Calay News
A year ago, a tragic incident occurred in which at least 37 people lost their lives while attempting to enter Spanish territory through the border fence. In response to this event, Morocco is strengthening its border with Spain by building a new fence near the Barrio Chino border crossing, which separates the African country from the Spanish city of Melilla.
The green stretch of fence under construction stretches towards the city of Nador and is located in an area that was damaged during last year’s attempt, when around 2,000 migrants tried to cross the border and gain access to Spain. This new fence has been erected parallel to the Spanish fences and the one previously built by Morocco, with the aim of reinforcing security and providing greater protection, Moroccan security sources and a local resident told EFE.
The previous fence, composed of barbed wire, was damaged during the events of June 2022. The construction of this new fence in the same area seeks to reinforce security and provide additional protection, the security source explained.
One year after the tragedy, in which at least 37 people lost their lives as sub-Saharan migrants and refugees attempted to enter Spain, the whereabouts of at least 76 people are still unknown.
Amnesty International accused both countries of failing to carry out an “effective and independent” investigation, failing to provide a complete list with the names of the victims and the causes of their deaths, failing to share CCTV footage, and failing to adequately investigate human rights violations, discrimination, racism, and crimes under international law.
The organization stated that “the families of the deceased or missing persons are trapped in uncertainty, while the apparent cover-up by the Spanish and Moroccan authorities hampers their efforts to discover what happened to their loved ones and to seek justice, truth, and reparations,” on the eve of the first anniversary of the tragedy.
