Kenya’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York has expressed its outrage over the assault that left some Africans in Spain dead.
In the letter released on Wednesday, June 29, the Permanent Mission noted that the Africans, who were seeking to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla, were met with an violence.
The commission argued that the attack went against an agreement reached two years ago championing for the “Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers.
A statement by Spanish authorities estimated that the number of deaths stood at 23 but some of the migrants disputed the figure arguing that it was as high as 70.
Police officers during the chaos at the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
Anadolu Agency
The letter further showed that attacks on Africans had been on the rise in European countries in recent years.
“What happened to the migrants trying to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla is a blatant violation of this resolution. Rather than being protected, they were assaulted.
“Tragically, this was not an isolated incident. It is part of a worrying trend in recent years in which people of African descent traveling to Europe via the Mediterranean suffer extreme violations of their human rights. Thousands have died, and thousands of others have been sold into slavery, and many more have been violently assaulted,” read the letter in part.
As a result, the Permanent Mission called for thorough investigations to be conducted into the incident to ascertain the root cause of the attack.
They argued that some of the migrants were vulnerable individuals fleeing war zone or seeking a better life due to the effects of climate change.
“The young Africans undertaking this journey are doing so for different reasons. Some are economic migrants trying to survive from livelihoods that have been destroyed by the effects of climate change.
“Others are fleeing the foreign fighters and weapons that poured out of Libya following the intervention that the Security Council authorised in 2011. There are those fleeing from terrorist groups in the Sahel that have been sanctioned by the Council and that are engaged in battle with a peacekeeping force,” added the statement.
The chaos erupted on Friday, June 24, when more than 2,000 Moroccans attempted to get into the city of Melilla sending shockwaves across the globe.
The Spanish prosecutor’s officer noted that it had called for investigations into the incident that left 140 police officers with injuries.
United Nations Tower in New York City.
United Nations
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