The Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of Relations with Parliament and Official Government Spokesperson, Mustapha Baitas, during the weekly press briefing at the end of the Government Council on Thursday July 7, 2022 indicated that “the events that took place in Melilla and which left 23 migrants dead and 140 members of the security forces injured are the result of a carefully considered plan”.
According to Baitas, “the attack on Melilla was premeditated and marked by the use of unusual means and violence”. This is the first official reaction from the Moroccan Executive. He added, in response to questions from reporters that “ the intrusion took place in a way without precedent other than those previously used”.
The minister pointed out that“in proportion to the humanitarian logic and the dimension of human rights on which the governance of migration in Morocco is based, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) dispatched a delegation to the scene for an exploratory mission in the town of Nador and its surroundings in order to shed light on what happened”.
The investigations and inquiries carried out by the judicial police have revealed that certain candidates for illegal immigration have infiltrated the national territory after a long journey which has taken them from Sudan to Nador via Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco or by Chad, Niger, Mali and Algeria, after having paid more or less high sums to the head of the network residing in Algeria, a certain Omar or Boss, in a farm in Maghnia before entering Morocco .
Investigations also revealed that these migrants from the east set up camps in one of the mountain forests near the town of Nador, led by a Sudanese citizen, where they received training in knife handling and confrontation with the authorities. The Moroccan authorities have arrested 64 illegal immigrants, who will shortly be tried.
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