Morocco Accused of Persecuting Migrants Amid Renewed Spain Relations

In Morocco, migrants, especially of Sudanese origin, are stigmatized and persecuted, denounces activist Helena Maleno. Many of them are also trying to jump the Melilla fence. "The police arrest them in the street, sexually assault many women, before putting them on buses to transport them," she explains.

To read: Migrant Deaths at Melilla Border: Morocco Prepares Mass Burial Near Nador

The activist calls on the authorities to put an end to this "witch hunt which is a direct consequence of the Spanish-Moroccan agreement." Hundreds of survivors of the Melilla assaults have been displaced to southern Morocco, in cities like Beni Mellal and Agadir, adds Maleno, recalling that the death toll from these assaults is 23, according to official sources.

Maleno also denounced the fact that the Moroccan justice system ordered the migrants who died to be buried, without any investigation, "arguing that there was no room in the morgue." For the activist, this is a "structural, institutional racism that is growing in Morocco."