Moroccan authorities took a series of fateful decisions that led to the deaths of dozens of asylum seekers attempting to scale the border fence into the Spanish north African territory of Melilla two years ago, survivors and an investigation by an NGO have claimed.

At least 27 migrants and asylum seekers died when up to 2,000 people tried to climb over the fence on 24 June 2022 – the deadliest day in recent memory along the EU land border with Africa – while 70 others are still missing and unaccounted for, the Guardian reported. 

Amnesty International has said the “widespread use of unlawful force” by Moroccan and Spanish authorities contributed to the fatalities and a UN working group of experts described the deaths as evidence of the “racialized exclusion and deadly violence deployed to keep out people of African and Middle Eastern descent”.

The investigation by the Border Forensics NGO, which includes testimonies from survivors and satellite images, has claimed evidence suggests Moroccan authorities pushed the asylum seekers to the border while also increasing its militarization.

Dozens of survivors told Border Forensics that hundreds of people were forced to move to the southern part of Mount Gourougou – around 6km from the Melilla barrier – after a series of attacks by Moroccan law enforcement agents in the days before the deaths at the border.