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  6.  » Migrants are piled up by a border fence surrounded by riot police in shocking scenes after more than 2,000 stormed fence to break into Spanish enclave bordering Morocco, killing 23

Migrants climb the fence seperating the Spanish enclave of Mililla from Morocco

  • Dozens of migrants piled up at a border fence in the province of Nador, Morocco
  • Human rights groups say some died after being left with no medical treatment
  • It comes after 2,000 migrants tried to storm into the Spanish enclave of Mililla

Walter Finch, Matthew Lodge – June 26, 2022

An estimated 2,000 “migrants” tried to storm the Spanish enclave

Shocking video footage has been released showing migrants piled up on the floor surrounded by police in riot gear at a Moroccan border fence after an attempted mass crossing into a Spanish enclave left 23 people dead.

Moroccan authorities said 2,000 migrants tried to burst into Mililla, a Spanish territory in North Africa which is the one of the only EU land borders on the continent, on Friday.

Authorities said some people trying to cross died in the crush, with others were seriously hurt as they fell while trying to scale fences at the border.

Around 100 made it across the frontier, with the Spanish Government saying around 140 Spanish police officers were injured, as were 76 migrants.

Now video released by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) shows what appears to be dozens of migrants, many motionless and apparently lifeless, piled up at the Barrio Chino Border Checkpoint.

Morocco deployed a ‘large’ amount of forces to try to repel the assault on the border who cooperated actively with Spainish security forces the delegation said. Click to enlarge

Omar Naji, local head of the AMDH said those in the pile had been left there for hours without medical treatment, leading to a higher death toll – which it claims is 29, higher than the total of 23 given by Moroccan authorities.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the attempt to storm the border ‘an attack on the territorial integrity of our country’, and blamed it on people traffickers.

However, Melilla regional president Eduardo de Castro said the images were difficult to explain and accused Moroccan security forces of a disproportionate response.

A Moroccan official said security personnel had not used undue force.

One AMDH video showed dozens of African migrants piled together, many motionless and a few making feeble movements as Moroccan officers in riot gear looked on.

The same clip showed security forces pulling two bleeding and dazed-looking migrants past those lying on the ground. Another showed a Moroccan security officer striking a person who lay prone.

The raid was the first attempted from Morocco into one of Spain’s two North African enclaves since the countries agreed this year to bolster cooperation on border control.

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