Rabat - Two Moroccan women died while several others suffered injuries on Monday, January 15 after a stampede at one of the entrance gates of the Ceuta’s crossing border.
Rabat – Two Moroccan women died while several others suffered injuries on Monday, January 15 after a stampede at one of the entrance gates of the Ceuta’s crossing border.
Moroccan authorities have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident, local authorities of M’diq-Fnidq prefecture pointed out in a statement.
Monday’s stampede was the first incident recorded in 2018.
Three reported stampedes happened in 2017. The first incident occurred on March 28, 2017, when a woman tragically lost her life in a stampede, while the second incident dates back to April 24, when a 50-year old woman died under the same circumstances. The third tragedy occurred took place on August 28, when two Moroccan women died while others suffered injuries.
In June 2017, Spanish authorities made an agreement with the Moroccan government to prevent the so-called human mules from crossing the borders through Ceuta’s El Tarajal II crossing in the same day.
According to the agreement reached by the two governments, women are allowed to cross the border only on Mondays and Wednesdays, while men will be permitted on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The decision was taken after Moroccan authorities asked Ceuta’s government to help decrease pedestrian traffic at the border. In the same month, Spanish parliament discussed a suggestion by Podemos Party to improve the working conditions of Ceuta and Melilla’s human mules. This proposition has not seen a light yet.
In November 2016, The Association for Human Rights in Andalusia (APHA) condemned the situation of and the daily humiliation that the so-called “human mules” face during the crossing.
Thousands of Moroccan women cross this border post every day to sell their goods in Morocco and provide for themselves. Often, they carry up to 70 kilos and make several round trips during the day and are sometimes treated inhumanely by Spanish authorities in the crossing points.
