Morocco defends Melilla as an ‘occupied prison’ before the UN

In a letter accessed by Europa Press, the Moroccan Government is determined to clarify the circumstances from the outset before defending itself against the statements made in response to their July letter.several rapporteurs UN He wants more information about the events of June.

Thus they make it clear “again” that, “wrong” to refer to the dividing line between Morocco and Morocco melillaAs the “Spanish-Moroccan border”as stated in their text, “the Kingdom of Morocco has no land border with Spain, and Melilla remains an occupied prison, and therefore speaks of simple crossing points, not borders”.

Confirmation of the Alaouite kingdom A sweet moment in the relationship between Spain and Morocco, President of the Government Pedro Sánchez VI. a solution to the conflict.

From Sánchez’s meeting with the Alaouite ruler on April 7, a joint statement emerged, which was announced, among other things. “Full normalization of the movement of people and goods”, including appropriate customs and human control devices at land and sea level, will be restored “in an orderly manner”.

reopening of customs

This means, as the Head of Government himself said from Rabat: At the reopening of the Melilla customs, cThe opening of a new one in Ceuta, which Morocco unilaterally missed in 2018 and has not been so far.

Again The Moroccan Government has never confirmed this point.Nor did he deny the Spanish Ruler, and indeed the statements of a high-ranking Alevi questioning the geographical applicability of the customs later subsided.

On 21 September, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, accompanied by his Moroccan counterpart Naser Burita, announced that the intention of the two governments is to open customs in January.

“We have decided to work to ensure that regular and gradual transit of goods through land customs points takes place throughout January,” Albares said after meeting with Burita at the margin of the General Assembly. from ONU.

The Moroccan minister confirmed his country’s intention to abide by what was agreed in the 7 April declaration and said the two countries will work towards an “effective return to normalcy” regarding the transit of people and goods from land and sea posts. , relying on it The necessary “devices” are available “from the beginning of the year in the framework of sincere cooperation between the two partners and friends”.

Morocco defends its performance in big jump

On the other hand, in a letter sent to the UN Human Rights Council, to which Morocco will become a member as of January 1, Morocco condemns the “unprecedented” immigration pressure it has been subjected to and accuses Algeria of “laxity” by allowing it. Crossing the border of thousands of immigrants to Moroccan territory.

Regarding the events of 24 June, condemns the spread of “false information” about what happenedit claims that the migrants are organized and in many cases have received military training, and denounces the “extraordinary violence” in which they act.

With regard to the actions of the Moroccan security forces, he stresses that the units were “equipped only with law enforcement, without any lethal firearms and were not fired” and They acted “with absolute respect for the principle of necessity and proportionality in the use of force”.

Likewise, Morocco emphasizes that the dead are 23, not 37. It is reflected in the letter sent by UN rapporteurs, It is the figure presented by a local Human Rights organization, and autopsies on all of them confirm that they died of drowning in an avalanche, not by a gunshot.

All this said, The Moroccan Government denies the accusation of “structural racism and discriminatory treatment of individuals of African descent”. The main purpose of the letter from UN rapporteurs is that the country is carrying out “wide operations to regularize migrants in an irregular situation”.

Finally, make it clear “Morocco has no responsibility for the return of migrants in the heat” but it is “responsible for the Spanish authorities”. “Morocco is suffering from the consequences of a phenomenon that only its security management shows its limits on its own,” he adds.

However, after the events of 24 June none of these returns took place, and “Morocco opposes the group return of migrants and the mass expulsion of foreigners.”