RABAT: Morocco has expelled dozens of African migrants desperately seeking a better life in Europe, among them survivors of a fatal attempt to reach the Spanish enclave of Melilla by boat, a rights group said yesterday.| Cheez, they're treating them as if they were Palestinians... |
The sub-Saharan migrants were deported at night in an "abusive manner," AMDH said, adding that many of them were on board the small boat that capsized on Tuesday as it attempted to reach Melilla from nearby Nador.
The boat, carrying 17 illegal migrants, capsized shortly before getting to Melilla and five people, including a small child and three women, are thought to have drowned, with the rest taken to hospital and then transferred to the police. The rights group said the migrants deported were in a desperate state, showing signs of fear, extreme fatigue, hunger and harassment, some of them having been attacked in Morocco.
It denounced the authorities for "continuing to play the role of European policeman, in a way that undermines the official discourse and does not respect internationally recognized human rights."