Fortress Europe has never seen such hypocrisy. Commentators from Western media have tried to blame Morocco for the deadly June 24 crossing of Melilla, which resulted in 23 deaths in a stampede and 140 injuries in the hands of security forces Moroccans.
Morocco was the first to condolee and express sorrow at the deaths of the migrants. It also alerted the world to the extraordinary violence of Sub-Saharan nationals who attacked security forces with sticks, acid, bladed weapons, and stones.
But Western commentators prefer to turn a blind eye to Europe’s indirect responsibility and Algeria’s direct involvement in this tragic event by scapegoating Rabat. Governor Melilla spoke from his air-conditioned office, which is enclosed by three dangerous fencing. He criticized the Moroccan security forces’ handling of the assault.
Sensationalism was not limited by many western human right organizations and regional groups like the African Union or the UN human Rights watchdog. They both condemned excessive force and demanded an investigation.
Official videos and media leaks have shown that African migrants broke off with their strategy to avoid encountering Moroccan security forces. The assault was well prepared for, as the migrants marched like an army and used unprecedented violence.
This violence is also tied to the emergence a new group of migrants in forests around Nador. These are mainly Arabic speaking migrants from Sudan’s Darfur, Chad, the Central African Republic and Eritrea, countries ravaged by infighting and all calamities.
According to MAP, Khalid Zerouali, the head of border control and migration control at the interior ministry, pointed out the military nature of the attack involving ex-military men. AFP news agency spoke to several who made it to Melilla. They said that they prepared for the crossing just like they would for a war.
Despite this terrible attack on Moroccan security forces the latter displayed professionalism and restraint.
They had no experience in organizing mass migration among the Eastern African group, which is a newcomer in the illegal migration scene of northern Morocco. This led to them attacking the same spot at once, causing a stampede through a narrow gateway. Many others fell from a high fence, causing suffocation.
Biased Western commentators rely on images from civil society platforms that show migrants being surrounded and protected by Moroccan forces. These images are abhorrent and only half the truth.
Moroccan media are flooded with coverage of African migrants being treated in Moroccan hospitals after the incident.
The death of Melilla and the violent crossing that followed have offered many Moroccan enemies an opportunity to attack it in a desperate attempt to undermine its international role in order to promote a win/win approach to migration.
They should ask themselves this question: Who is restricting Africans’ access to legal migration and visas? Who is bringing back African asylum seekers at sea from Africa? In contrast, European countries have opened all their doors to 4,000,000 Ukrainian refugees in a double standard that borders on racism.
Nearly 3000 people drown each year in the Mediterranean Sea, but nobody has mentioned them because they weren’t filmed. Their deaths are not an event unfortunately.
The latest irony was South Africa’s call for an investigation into Melilla crossing! South Africa should have looked in its mirror before making such a call. We all recall how South African forces killed poor Africans and used firearms in what appeared to be a civil war in 2014. South Africa continues to persecute Africans unassisted.
Morocco has nothing to learn from the experience of migrants. It was the first African country that granted legal residency to more than 50,000 African migrants. This allowed them to access all social services on equal terms with Moroccans. It has led a paradigm shift in the way the north deals with immigration by separating from the security approach.
Europe cannot ask Morocco to allow people to take arms and harm its security forces to enter its borders. The rule of the law is supreme and the violence that migrants use will not cause Morocco to abandon its human rights obligations regarding migrants. Along with protecting rights, maintaining order is one the most important roles of the state.
Many of the 65 individuals who were involved in this violent crossing are being tried for kidnapping and setting fire to forests.
Europe needs to ask why these migrants switched from their Libya route to the well-patrolled Morocco route. The majority of migrants involved in Melilla’s incident arrived in Morocco via Algeria in recent months. This country boasts that it has one of the most closely guarded borders in the world and has closed its borders with Morocco since 1994.
EFE news agency leaked reports that indicated a key role for migrant trafficking networks within Algeria that helped all the Sudanese cross.
European commentators who are only capable of indignation should first examine their own migration policies and then blame those who have colluded with migrant-trafficking networks, such the Algerian regime, in order to blackmail their neighbors.
Source: north africa post
