Our Alarm Phone member D. was arrested in the night of the 19th/20th of February in Ceuta (Spain) when several hundred people attempted to cross into Europe. He was in a group of 11 people who had already crossed all the fences when they were arrested on Spanish territory by the Morrocan Forces Auxiliaires (a paramilitary police force). At 4 am, they were taken back to Morocco. They were violently arrested, having stones thrown at them and being beaten. Some people were injured and more than 100 people ended up in prison.
The situation in prison was very difficult and D. couldn’t inform anyone about his situation because he was denied access to a phone. The authorities said that people arrested at the fences were „illegal“. This is an absurd claim as such, but our friend had applied for residency already months before, but in prison they didn’t give him the possibility to make a call to prove this. For the trial, the imprisoned were wrongly accused that they had used weapons (knives, stones, etc.) and that they had humiliated the Moroccan Forces Auxiliaires. The accused were not given an opportunity of defending themselves in court, they were only given time to introduce themselves. They were denied access to a lawyer under the pretext that they were in an “irregular situation”.
After being imprisoned for more than 3 months the Moroccan state began the deportation process. The country of origin of Alarm Phone member D. was obviously cooperating with the Moroccan state and agreed to take him back. He arrived in Cameroon without any financial support and without any prospects, after having lived in Morocco for so many years.
„My hope is that the others who are still in prison shouldn’t have the same treatment like us“ said D.
As friends and Alarm Phone comrades, we are very angry and we will continue to fight against these border policies. The responsibility for the ongoing violence and human rights violations that travelers face in Morocco lies with the EU that continues to finance transit states to prevent people’s free movement.
To overcome global injustice and this neo-colonialism, we must create societies in solidarity!
We demand freedom of movement and ferries for all!
See also:
- alarmphone.org/en/2017/04/23/subsaharan-migrants-in-morocco-algeria-raids-displacements-arrests/
- alarmphone.org/en/2017/03/27/mass-arrests-in-the-north-of-morocco-our-friends-in-prison/
Mass arrests, trials and deportations: report by our Alarm Phone friend
