On Sunday the 26 of June 2016, the Alarmphone got a call from a Senegalese man staying in Morocco. His brother had left in a rubber boat with a group of 8 persons, heading from Tangier in direction of Tarifa. During the interception the migrants’ boat capsized, because of the big waves produced by the ship of the Marine Royal.
The survivors witnessed that the Marine Royal did not rescue all passengers, but only 5 of the 8. The Marine Royal then left the three dead bodies behind. In anguish the Senegalese comrades in Tangier wrote the following statement:
A Drama today has caused the dead of 3 Senegalese at sea during their arrest in the water by the Moroccan Navy. We demand to clarify the situation as the human rights have been violated again in Morocco. A country where black persons are not being heard. We are asking to recover the dead bodies and we demand justice.
A convoy of 11 persons wanted to leave Morocco together. Three of them rested on land, 7 men and one women finally took the boat towards Spain.
The boat was intercepted on the way to Spain. During this interception the boat capsized and three persons drowned. The other five persons were rescued by the Marine Royal with a rope.
We commemorate our lost friends: Pape Ndiaye, Cheik Ndiaye and Saliou Fall
In the name of the survivors.
The externalization of the EU border regime produced three more deaths with their ruthless fortress policy. The members of the Alarmphone express sorrow and anger about the ongoing crimes, which are happening in the waters around Europe.
We demand investigations concerning this tragedy and a respectful treatment of the deaths and their family members.
We demand ferries, not Frontex! Because freedom of movement is everybody’s right!
Alarmphone, 27 of July 2016
