Rabat, Morocco - In a recent report, the International Medical aid group, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has urged Morocco and Spain to take immediate and drastic measures to ensure that their security forces discontinue abuses against sub-Saharan migrants.
In the report, entitled 'Trapped at the Gates of Europe' which was published Thursday by the local media, the MSF urged the Moroccan and Spanish governments to stop the abuses perpetrated by their security forces; comply with international and national human rights agreements and guarantee that sub-Saharan migrants are treated humanely.
MSF said it was closing its projects in Morocco in protest at the plight of African migrants allegedly abused by Spanish and Moroccan police as they try to reach Europe.
The group reported treating hundreds of migrants who said they had been beaten by Moroccan and Spanish security forces guarding a fence that closes off the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in northern Morocco.
In addition to highlighting the increase in violence in this past year, the report also shows the difficult circumstances endured by sub-Saharan migrants, many of whom are forced to live in precarious conditions out in the open and beg in order to survive.
Almost half of the 10,500 medical consultations conducted by the MSF teams between 2010 and 2012 were for pathologies related to bad living conditions, the report said.
Morocco said it is hosting more than 35,000 migrants from sub-Saharan countries who are waiting for opportunities to get into Europe through Spain.
Pana 15/03/2013