Marlaska and the Interior Commissioner visit Rabat tomorrow, two weeks after the death of migrants in Melilla

MADRID, 7 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Tomorrow, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, accompanies the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, on her trip to Rabat to meet with the head of this matter in Morocco, Abdelouafi Laftit, an appointment that will be held for two weeks after the jump to the Melilla fence in which at least 23 migrants died.

In the debate in the European Parliament focused on the events that occurred on June 24 in Melilla, Commissioner Johansson considered it a priority to open an investigation to establish the facts surrounding the death of migrants, noting that it is "unacceptable" both that they die people at the borders of the European Union as they are violently assaulted.

Interior sources consulted by Europa Press maintain that the meeting is part of the need to continue increasing collaboration with Morocco on migration matters, after opening a "new stage" Spanish-Moroccan after the support for the Alawite plan for Western Sahara, which which has caused Algeria's anger.

Grande-Marlaska and Laftit already staged the good bilateral relations on June 15 in Madrid at a meeting where they agreed to highlight the joint "excellent work" to deal with migratory flows or to organize Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE), resumed after Covid-19, as well as the transit through the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla, although with restrictions and the promised customs are pending.

The Spanish minister has also previously accompanied Commissioner Johansson on trips to the Canary Islands or Mauritania focused on the need to cooperate with the countries of origin and transit of the migratory routes.

Last Monday, Grande-Marlaska reiterated that he regretted the deaths of migrants in Melilla, but insisted that no democratic country could consent to "violent assaults." He also recalled that the episode experienced in the autonomous city on June 24 left 60 civil guards and 140 Moroccan gendarmes injured.

The minister avoided answering if there were gendarmes from the neighboring country who had died, as the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, did last week in an interview, who was criticized because hours after the event he praised that it had been well resolved by the police of both countries. .

Grande-Marlaska has also not said if he is in favor of publishing the recorded images of the incident on the border perimeter, as several parliamentary partners have asked.

"It has acted at all times in accordance with legal, national and international parameters, in terms of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, with proportionality and adaptation to the specific situation and in those terms," ​​said Grande-Marlaska. The action has motivated the opening of investigations by the Prosecutor's Office and the Ombudsman in Spain.