Morocco Bolsters Security at Melilla Border to Deter Migrant Crossings

Four months after the assault of sub-Saharan migrants in which at least 23 people were killed while trying to enter Melilla, Morocco has reinforced security on Mount Gourougou and in the Barrio chino. The fence is under constant surveillance. Police officers are stationed in vans at the entrance and gendarmes are monitoring one of the former entrances to the porterage area, reports ABC.

It was among others through these two entrances that the some 1,700 sub-Saharan migrants, mostly of Sudanese origin, arrived on June 24, attacking the Moroccan agents guarding this side of the fence with stones and trying to force their way in to reach Melilla. With tear gas and rubber bullets, the Moroccan agents managed to disperse the migrants and prevent some of them from reaching their goal. The clashes resulted in at least 23 dead and 200 injured migrants, and more than a hundred Moroccan agents and 55 civil guards injured.

With the reinforcement of the security forces, the sub-Saharan migrants, who used to hide in the forest before coming out in groups to carry out their assault, have disappeared from the area. The Moroccan authorities have set up a military camp on site to deter them. Without any way out, some try to swim to reach the peninsula, at the risk of their lives.