The campaign has run for two weeks and has resulted in 200 arrests and identifications. Moroccan police forces are curbing the movement of sub-Saharan migrant groups from the interior toward Melilla. These operations form part of the exhausted contingent that the gendarmerie pushed back from the Gurugú Mountain area and sent south after the tragedy at the border fence on June 24.
In fact, 54 of the arrests occurred last weekend on the slopes of that hill near Melilla, a forested area long used as a sanctuary. Immigrants from Chad, Mali, Nigeria, and Sudan continue to strive for European soil. On this very mountain, Morocco has gathered relics from mining ventures to reopen the old Rif iron mines, a project tied to its colonial era economic footprint.
Police operations began about twenty days ago when gendarmerie units detected the return of large numbers of migrants who had been deported north in June. Among them are not only veterans of prior attempts to breach the fence, but also new arrivals and an undetermined number of children. Government sources in Madrid indicate that Morocco keeps its contacts within the Spanish Interior Ministry informed about these police actions.
South
Raids extend beyond the Nador region, the city that borders Melilla to the southeast. The longest detentions occurred around the twentieth day of the month, roughly 150 kilometers from the Spanish city. That distance marks the radius within which Moroccan gendarmes aim to halt migrant advances. Those apprehended are often brought before the Moroccan prosecutor’s office on charges related to illegal immigration and the use of force, according to Spanish police sources.
The Moroccan police activity has been seized on by far-right groups in Melilla and Ceuta to tout reports of thousands of migrants gathering for a fresh assault on the fence. The rhetoric grew so intense that it reached the Congressional Home Affairs Committee during the ministry’s budget hearing last Wednesday. In that session, Vox criticized the security minister and called for greater action; they suggested that continued illegal immigration would prompt a 30 million euro contribution from Spain to Morocco for public safety measures.
Additional sources indicate that Moroccan officers aimed to uncover the root of at least one raid. A search of a house believed to be the headquarters of an immigrant trafficking network occurred during the Oujda operation, where hundreds of metal hooks were found, tools that sub-Saharan migrants allegedly used to scale the border barrier.
Spanish police observers note that clashes between migrants and gendarmes or scenes of strong resistance to authority have not been clearly visible in the available footage. According to the Nador prosecutor’s office, Rabat has been pressing to reach the leadership of a Sudanese criminal organization. A 35-year-old Malian, who had settled in Algeria, was named as the organizer of the major crossing attempt that ended with the crushing and drowning of at least 23 migrants in June. This portrait underscores the persistent volatility along the frontier and the ongoing efforts by authorities on both sides of the border to deter irregular entry while navigating the humanitarian and legal complexities involved. (citation: Madrid government communications; Rabat security briefings; Spanish police reports)