Melilla border fence


The Melilla border fence forms part of the Morocco–Spain border in the city of Melilla, one of two Spanish cities in north Africa. Constructed by Spain, its stated purpose is to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. Melilla's border and its equivalent in Ceuta, also bordering Morocco, are the only two land borders between the European Union and an African country.

Recent history

In September 2005 some thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants tried to climb over the fences in several waves moving upon Melilla. About 700 made it past the fences while six died in clashes with Moroccan security forces. The 2005 events at the Melilla and Ceuta border fences are the subject of a documentary film, Victimes de nos richesses.

Renovation

Anti immigration sentiment toward African migrants prompted the Spanish government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005 to build up a new border fence. This border fence, built next to the two deteriorated existing ones, completely seals the border. Recently, the new Interior minister of Spain has recognized the anti-immigration ideals that the fence stems from and has vowed to replace the razor wire that runs along its top with more humane deterrents. "Spain's new interior minister has vowed to do "everything possible" to remove the "anti-migrant" razor wire fences, which separate Morocco from the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla."
This third razor wire barrier cost Spain €33 million to construct. It consists of of parallel high fences topped with barbed wire, with regular watchposts and a road running between them to accommodate either police patrols or ambulance service in case of need. Underground cables connect spotlights, noise and movement sensors, and video cameras to a central control booth. In 2005 its height was doubled to since immigrants were climbing the previous fences equipped with home-made steps. Also, in order to facilitate the intruders' detention, devices to slow them harmlessly were added.
So far the new fence has succeeded in deterring new intrusions and the sub-Saharan camp sites in the buffer zone have mostly disbanded. From these, Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières accused the Moroccan government of dumping people from various African countries in an uninhabited area of the Sahara Desert without food or water supplies.