Morocco triples the penalties for migrants who storm the border
Morocco triples the penalties for migrants who storm the border
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Rabat: A Moroccan appellate court has more than tripled the sentence of 18 African migrants who stormed a Spanish enclave in June to three years in prison, a lawyer has claimed.

About 2,000 people, mostly migrants from Sudan, were detained after they attempted to cross the border with Melilla Enclave on 24 June in an attempt to travel to Europe. At least 23 migrants were killed in the stampede.

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According to defense lawyer Mabarek Bouerig, an appeals court in Nador, a town close to the border with Melilla, sentenced 18 detained migrants to "three years in prison" on June 24.

Of the more than 60 people detained in the wake of the tragedy in Melilla, 18 migrants were initially sentenced to 11 months in prison.

In a tweet, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights condemned the decision and attacked the "oppressive judicial system".

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The migrants were found guilty of "violence against law enforcement officers," "armed assembly," "illegal entry into Morocco," and "refusal to comply."

People fleeing violence and poverty in Africa have long been drawn to the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta, which serve as the only land border between Africa and the European Union.

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Since the June 24 incident, many immigrants, most of them from Sudan, have received prison sentences ranging from eight months to two years without parole.

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