A Moroccan human rights organization is calling on Spain to open an independent investigation into allegations of serious abuses against migrants in Ceuta and Melilla and says it may take the case to international institutions.
The Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) presented a report on the allegations at a press conference in Rabat on Tuesday, detailing accounts of beatings, deliberate deprivation of food and water and discriminatory treatment of the bodies of migrants who died during the July migration crisis.
Nawfal Bouamri, president of the OMDH, told Le360 that the organization had closely documented events in the two enclaves on Morocco’s northern coast and was now considering taking its findings beyond the bilateral level.
“We have closely followed this crisis, on which the OMDH has prepared a detailed report. We are now going to move to another stage, that of referring the matter to international bodies,” Bouamri said in response to a question from Le360.
According to Bouamri, some 40,000 irregular migrants were subjected to various forms of violence during the crisis, including beatings and deliberate deprivation of food and water. He said that their rights had not been protected in accordance with international conventions.
The OMDH is now asking Spain to launch an independent investigation into the allegations and make its findings public.
Bouamri also criticized racist and xenophobic rhetoric from sections of the Spanish right during the crisis.
“We call on the Spanish side to put an end to hateful and xenophobic rhetoric against Moroccan migrants and their country,” he said at the press conference, which was also attended by Spanish media.
OMDH raises questions over minors and unidentified bodies
The treatment of minors is another focus of the report. Bouamri said authorities in Ceuta had yet to provide clear figures on the number of minors involved or establish their nationalities.
The OMDH also raised particularly serious allegations concerning the handling of the bodies of migrants.
Citing testimony gathered by the organization, Bouamri said that authorities had decided on Tuesday to bury 60 bodies in a Muslim cemetery and another 20 elsewhere, with the deceased separated “solely on the basis of the color of their skin.”
The organization said migrants caught up in the events came from several countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Bouamri called for each body to be formally identified and for the families of the deceased to be contacted as quickly as possible.
International action could follow
The report comes amid heightened scrutiny of the treatment of migrants in Ceuta and Melilla following the large-scale movements recorded in July and renewed attempts to reach the enclaves in August.
Moroccan authorities have significantly reinforced security around Fnideq, the northern Moroccan city bordering Ceuta, as well as surrounding forests and coastal areas following online calls for collective attempts to enter the enclave.
Security operations intensified ahead of Aug. 15, with ground patrols, forest sweeps and aerial surveillance aimed at preventing mass crossings. Hundreds of would-be migrants were detained during the operations, while authorities said no collective breach into Ceuta was recorded that day.
The OMDH, however, is focusing on what happened to migrants who reached Spanish-controlled territory during the earlier crisis and whether their fundamental rights were respected once there. Bouamri said the OMDH is prepared to take the allegations to international institutions.
