The Melilla border fence today. Photo by Mohamed Belkasen, used with permission
June 24, 2025, is the third anniversary of one of the most devastating episodes in recent European border history: the mass attempt by 2,000 sub-Saharan migrants to cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in North Africa. To this day, the exact number of deaths remains unknown.
What began as an ordinary Friday morning in the Autonomous City of Melilla quickly turned into a day stained with blood, uncertainty, and silence — a dark chapter in Spanish, Moroccan, and European migration policy.
Around 2,000 migrants, mostly from Sudan, attempted to storm the border fence between Morocco and Spain through the Barrio Chino checkpoint. The outcome: dozens of deaths and disappearances in an incident that marked a turning point in the region’s migration narrative.
Independent investigations by Border Forensics, Amnesty, Lighthouse Reports, and others, based on video evidence and first-hand testimonies, reveal that migrants died from a combination of violence, tear-gassing, and being crushed in the overcrowded border courtyard. Moroccan forces reportedly fired at least 20 tear‑gas canisters into a confined space, while the Spanish Guardia Civil also used tear gas and at least 65 rubber bullets.
Witnesses describe brutal beatings, with one survivor witnessing a man being “beaten in the head … to check if he was dead.” The crush inside the courtyard caused horrific trampling, leaving bodies piled with no medical assistance.
Moroccan authorities reportedly buried many victims in unmarked graves near Nador’s Sidi Salem cemetery, without issuing death certificates or conducting proper autopsies. This lack of transparency has left dozens officially “missing,” fueling fears of a deliberate concealment and impunity.
The Melilla border fence today. Photo by Mohamed Belkasen, used with permission.
Contradictory numbers of the dead and missing
Three years on, there is still no confirmed death toll or trace of many who tried — and possibly failed — to cross that day. Amnesty International reports at least 37 confirmed deaths and 73 missing persons. Caminando Fronteras places the toll at 40 dead and 77 missing. AMDH-Nador (“Association Marocain des Droits Humains”), together with Border Forensics, counts 27 deaths and over 70 missing. Meanwhile, a coalition of 74 NGOs addressed the UN with a joint letter stating that at least 37 people were killed and more than 70 remain unaccounted for.
The official Moroccan version, however, reports 23 migrant deaths and two Moroccan police officers killed, along with 76 migrants and 140 security personnel injured, a version that was endorsed by Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.
However, an independent investigation by El País, Lighthouse Reports, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and Enass alleged that at least one migrant died on Spanish territory. Amnesty International also reported that Spanish forces carried out 470 so-called “hot returns,” forcibly sending migrants who had made it across the fence back to Morocco.
Likewise, those who did survive were reportedly transported to remote areas in Morocco, according to Amnesty International. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Some were said to have continued their journeys through other migration routes such as Libya, Algeria, or Tunisia, but no reliable sources confirm this.
Investigations with no consequences
On June 28, 2022, just four days after the events, Spain’s Public Prosecutor opened an investigation to examine what had happened and whether Spanish authorities had acted appropriately. But by December 23 of the same year, the case was closed, citing “no evidence of criminal conduct” in the use of summary returns.
Moroccan authorities also launched their own inquiry into the actions of their security forces. It was formally closed on June 24, 2024, again citing a “lack of evidence of wrongdoing” and defending the gendarmerie’s actions against what they described as a violent assault by migrants.
The Melilla border fence today. Picture by Mohamed Belkasen, used with permission
Everything on hold, and everything the same
Melilla remains a crucial final stop on many migratory routes to Europe. Daily life has resumed, as if nothing had changed — even though the memory of that day hangs heavily over the city, its residents, and the migrants who pass through it.
Since 2022, no border crossing of such magnitude has occurred. The fence has been fortified, although smaller attempts have been recorded. In the last two years, about 1,770 migrants have crossed the fence. Currently, the main route into Melilla is via the sea.
The Melilla border fence today. Picture by Mohamed Belkasen, used with permission.
As time goes on, one thing remains unchanged: silence and lack of accountability. And for the families of the dead and missing, the wound remains open, waiting for truth, justice, and remembrance.
