Moroccan Minors Denied Shelter, Arrested in Melilla New Year’s Incident

On the night of December 31, about thirty unaccompanied minors residing at the Melilla reception center went out to attend the New Year’s celebrations, "but when they returned in the evening around 9 p.m., they were denied access to the center, knowing that the internal regulations of the said center stipulate that the gates are closed only at 10 p.m," explains Omar Naji, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), Nador branch, to Hespress.

As a result, these Moroccan minors "spent the night on the street, even though they are just minors, which is unacceptable," he laments. Dissatisfied, they organized a protest march on January 1, 2022. Three of them were arrested by the police. They are still in custody and were mistreated by the guards, says Omar Naji.

"The situation of unaccompanied minors in Melilla is difficult, especially those living on the street and therefore subject to arbitrary behavior," he adds. Prohibiting Moroccan minors from staying in the shelters "was done in strict compliance with the internal law of the center, that is to say if someone returns after 10 p.m. And these were isolated cases, but today it concerns about 30 minors. The Spanish press said they returned at 9:30 p.m., while they told us they returned at 9 p.m," continues this human rights activist.