Stranded Moroccans Protest in Melilla, Demand Repatriation Amid Border Crisis

About a hundred Moroccans, still blocked in the enclave of Melilla, demonstrated on Wednesday in front of the government delegation (police headquarters) and at the border, to demand their repatriation.

According to the local media El Faro de Melilla, they are mostly cross-border workers. There are also Moroccan women who went to the enclave to give birth and find themselves blocked there.

According to the protesters, the situation is serious. The authorities of the city would have decided to expel Moroccans blocked; this in order to prevent them from entering Spain or Europe for the next three years.

The first repatriation operation from Melilla had been launched on May 15, a day after the death of a Moroccan woman blocked in the enclave. Other operations have been carried out, both from Melilla, then Ceuta, and Algeria.

Some 310 Moroccans, including 10 babies, blocked in Spain, were repatriated on Wednesday, on board three flights from the Andalusia region (southern Spain).

In total, 1,103 Moroccans stranded abroad have been repatriated during the first operations carried out from May 15 to 22, said Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. Repatriation operations from Spain, Turkey, France, the Gulf countries and African countries will take place in the coming weeks, the minister announced.