• Investigation into the Melilla incident closed with no charges: Spain closed its investigation into the incident that in June lead to the deaths of dozens of refugees and migrants attempting to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla, dismissing the criminal charges against the Spanish officers involved. [...] The director of migration and border surveillance in Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior said in October that encampments in the forests in the north and south of the country, where many refugees and migrants live to avoid police detection and harassment from the public, would no longer be tolerated. [...] The ship had rescued the individuals in waters off the coast of Libya between 22 and 26 October and requested support from Libya and Malta, the states responsible for search and rescue in the waters where the operation took place. [...] The refusal of European governments to accept the vessel prompted the European Commission to issue a statement on 9 November demanding the “immediate disembarkation, at the nearest place of safety” of all onboard the Ocean Viking to “avoid a humanitarian tragedy”. [...] Adding to the limitations imposed by the decree is the practice of assigning ports of safety far from the vessel’s location, extending the length of each deployment and resulting in fewer days available for SAR operations.
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- Published in
- Switzerland
