Morocco’s Makhzen “dumps” 1.250 illegal migrants including women and sick near Algerian border

Hundreds of migrants tried their luck, Tuesday, February 10, to reach the enclave of Melilla, gateway to Europe but the Moroccan police forces brutally responded by arresting more than 1,250 migrants from sub Saharan Africa.

Some of them bear witness to their current appalling conditions in detention centers somewhere in Morocco but reports say that many of these hapless illegal migrants have been herded towards the vicinity of the Algerian border.

According to witnesses, about 35 migrants have however managed to cross into  the Spanish side.

Testimonies of some arrested migrants: 

“We were put in a bus, and since then there has been  no information, and there is a strong feeling that Moroccan security forces are striving to humiliate us”.

“We are entitled to a daily meal, which consists of a small piece of bread and cheesewith a bag of milk.” 

“Yesterday, when they gave it to us, they threw the food saying “catch” as if we were animals. We have the right to go to the toilet, but we are always escorted by guards who  keep an eye on  us”. 

“There is no door: we must relieve ourselves  with the guards watching us. We have the feeling that they are doing everything to humiliate us”.

“We do not understand this harsh treatment from the Moroccan police forces”.

“We attempted to cross into Melilla, and we lost. But an immigrant is not a criminal: our goal is to go to Europe to help our family, because in Morocco, there is no prospect. »

Contacted by an NGO, some of the arrested migrants say they do not know where they are.

The Moroccan Interior Ministry however gave no information on the destination of the arrested migrants.

In addition to these mass arrests on  the borders, the Moroccan authorities proceeded to the dismantling of makeshift camps in theGourougou forest area where numerous candidates for immigration used to live.