Rabat – CEPAIN Foundation has denounced the heinous and xenophobic murder of Moroccan man Younes Blal in Murcia, Spain.
The foundation issued a press release, saying that the incident is not the first of its kind in the town.
“The painful reality is that today, Younes is dead, just because he came from Morocco.”
The murder of Younes took place last week on Sunday in Mazarron, in the province of Murcia, in southeastern Spain.
A Spanish man named Carlos publicly shot the Moroccan victim in a cafe terrace, sparking a torrent of frustration and outrage among the Moroccan community in Spain and beyond.
A father of a son, the 30-year-old Moroccan victim lived in Mazarron for several years.
Racism and hatred appear to be the primary motivation behind the murder as the perpetrator shouted racist and anti-Moroccan slurs while committing the crime.
CEPAIN warned against the persistence of hatred and xenophobia across the world, saying that there have been several similar acts around the world in 2020.
“There have been several acts of this kind that we have had to witness around the world during 2020, the murder of George Floyd in the United States or the massacre of nine people in Hanau, Germany, also on this occasion at the hands of a middle-aged man with a gun license and no record,” the foundation said.
CEPAIN said that the perpetrator of Younes’ murder shouted publicly that he does not want “moors” in Spain.
The foundation highlighted that such comments have “surely” been heard and repeated through various channels on social networks and in the media “without paying the attention they deserve and without taking a position against them with the forcefulness that xenophobic and racist comments of this depth require.”The murder of Younes stirred fear and outrage among Moroccans across the world, who launched hashtags to ask for justice for Younes.
Hashtags such as #MoroccanLivesMatter and #JusticeForYounes have gone viral as people speak out to condemn the crime. Other internet users also described the murder as a “terrorist act.”
The murder has sparked protests in Spain, in which members of the Moroccan diaspora participated to condemn the attack.
Younes’ mother appeared in a video, denouncing the hate crime and calling on people to stand against xenophobia and to ask for justice.
The mother encouraged protestors to use their legal rights to protests Younes’ death and to avoid playing into the xenophobic stereotypes that caused the murder of her son.
