The Minister of the Interior defends the “proportionate” action of the Civil Guard and denies that there were deaths on Spanish soil, while Podemos distances himself and both the PP and ERC demand his departure from the Government
No criticism of Morocco, much less of himself for the actions of the Civil Guard on June 24 in Melilla, when an avalanche caused at least 23 deaths and more than 70 missing. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in one of the most delicate moments of his political career, this Wednesday he endorsed what happened to the “violent” migrants.
While the majority of the opposition and a new journalistic investigation consider that there was no health care to migrants who managed to cross the border, that at least one of them died in Spanish soil and that occurred hot returns, Marlaska, during his appearance in Congress, has hardly moved from the version he had offered up to now, also questioned by the Ombudsman, the UN and the Council of Europe.
“I assume all responsibility. I give the order to protect our borders from any violent attack. There was an attempted assault violent and intolerable of the Spanish border& rdquor ;, said the minister, describing time and time again as “proportionate and rigorous& rdquor; the action of the Civil Guard. “I don’t know of any country that accepts an attack on its border. I can empathize with the underlying causes, but that does not justify a violent attack on a country’s borders. borders cannot be shoot down by force & rdquor ;, he pointed out.
Despite the multiple requests for resignation (not only from the PP and Cs, but also from the ERC), Moncloa sources stress that Marlaska’s departure from the Government is not on the table. “You have to put the accent on the immigration mafias,” explain sources from an Executive that, on the other hand, has not made an effort to cover the minister. The head of the Interior has been only on the government bench during his appearance, and only a few Socialist deputies have followed his speech, applauding timidly on a couple of occasions.
gases and stones
The minister has not criticized the actions of the Moroccan gendarmes, who did not stop firing tear gas into a dead-end compound and responded brutally to the avalanche, but he has not defended it either. Morocco has been practically absent, with Marlaska focusing on the “proportionality & rdquor; of the Civil Guard and the “violence & rdquor; of the migrants.
That June 24, just after Spain and Morocco reestablished their relations, some 1,700 people, the majority of Sudanese origin, tried to cross the post of the Chinatown, in Nador. Several hundred tried, while security forces hurled stones and tear gas at them from both sides of the border, to force the entrance gates, which were finally thrown open, causing a riot. funnel in which dozens of migrants were piled up. The Moroccan guards beat the victims, leaving them lying on the ground in a patio. Some managed to cross the border, with one group reaching the city of Melilla and another being detained by the Spanish Civil Guard, which returned its members to the Moroccan area.
Marlaska has repeated several times that there was no “regret no loss of human life in national territory & rdquor ;, qualifying any other version as mere “conjectures and speculation & rdquor ;. An investigation published on Tuesday by Lighthouse Reports, an organization that works with some of the main European media, concludes, however, that there was at least one death on Spanish soil, a migrant named Anwar.
The opposition
“Lying in politics is unacceptable. You come here forced, you come dragging. You are the politically responsible, you are responsible for having lied to the Spanish. Go away, Mr. Marlaska & rdquor ;, he told him Ana Vazquez Blanco, deputy of the PP, who has called “coward & rdquor; to the minister.
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The explanations of the head of the Interior have not convinced United We Can either, a partner of the PSOE in the coalition government. your deputy Enrique Santiago has indicated that “there were at least injuries on Spanish soil”, not closing the door on the possibility that there were also deaths, and has accused the Civil Guard of “omitting the obligation to help the injured and deceased, despite the fact that there were ambulances nearby& rdquor ;. It has been much harder Maria Carvalho, of CKD. “A minister like this cannot continue another day & rdquor ;, she said.
Almost the least critical has been Vox. Like Marlaska, Javier Ortega-Smith it has placed all the responsibility on the “violent & rdquor;” migrants. “If we were the Government, of the 600 who entered, not one would remain. We congratulate the Melilla Security Forces for their professionalism, courage and dedication. But you must resign for having abandoned ours at the Spanish border,” the far-right deputy told him.