Melilla is a Spanish enclave of only 12.5 km² located in northern Morocco, lapped by the waves of the Mediterranean and only 50 km from Algeria.
The city is surrounded by a six meter high triple-layered metal fence that separates it from the Moroccan province of Nador, making its border one of the most hazardous in the world for migrants.
Those who cannot afford to pay the passage to cross the Mediterranean by boat, live rough in makeshift camps hidden in the woods of Morocco close to Melilla, with no choice but to try to jump the fence, facing the violence of both countries’ police forces and the razor wire running the length of the Moroccan side of the border.
Many are potential asylum seekers from sub-saharan countries such as Mali or Nigeria, some are minors, but none of them have the option of requesting protection when the Moroccan paramilitary blocks their attempt to approach the fence, sometimes using extreme violence, or when the Spanish Guardia Civil forces them to get off the fence and push them back to Morocco.
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