Around 40 Africans tried to scale razor-wire fences separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Monday, and five of them suffered cuts when they ended up dangling atop one of the 6-meter (20-foot) barriers, officials said. The pre-dawn rush on the twin fences between Morocco and Melilla was reminiscent of waves of hundreds of destitute Africans who tried to climb the barriers over the course of a two-week crisis in September and October of 2005 in a bid to gain a foothold in Spain and thus Europe. On some days more than 600 people rushed the Melilla fences under the cover of night, using ladders fashioned from trees and branches. That drama — in which 11 Africans died in clashes with security forces here and in Ceuta, another Spanish enclave on Morocco's northern coast — prompted Spain to deploy soldiers at the border and install a labyrinth-like obstacle course of thick wires on the ground in the 2.5-meter (9-foot) space between the two fences.
| “Those five got stuck in the razor wire of the second fence and were extricated by Spanish authorities who cut through the wire. The ones who did not make it that far waited for a while and staged a second assault that was repelled by authorities on the Moroccan side of the fences...” |
In Monday's attempt, the Africans climbed the outer of the two fences and five of them somehow managed to jump or use ropes to reach the second fence, said Jose Fernandez Chacon, the Interior Ministry's top representative in Melilla. Those five got stuck in the razor wire of the second fence and were extricated by Spanish authorities who cut through the wire. The ones who did not make it that far waited for a while and staged a second assault that was repelled by authorities on the Moroccan side of the fences, Chacon said.
Monday's rush was only the second known, major attempt to cross the fences in Melilla since the crisis late last year. In July, 50 to 70 Africans staged a rush and three men were killed. One was found between the two fences and two on the Moroccan side of the barriers. Spain's deputy interior minister Antonio Camacho told parliament they were killed by gunfire from Moroccan security forces. |