Morocco jails 12 migrants over border crossing

RABAT, Morocco (AA) – A Moroccan court sentenced 12 Sudanese migrants to three years in prison for attempting to scale a border fence separating the North African country from Spanish territory, a local NGO said Saturday.

In a statement, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said a court of appeals in the northern city of Nador jailed the migrants on charges of illegal entry into Morocco, violence against law enforcement officers, and weapons possession, among others.

The rights group called the verdict "retaliatory" and "harsh” given that an initial verdict against the migrants gave them 11 months in prison.

On June 24, around 2,000 migrants, many from Sudan, tried to cross the militarized border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, but were met with force from both Moroccan and Spanish authorities.

Official estimates put the death toll at 23, but rights groups say 37 migrants were killed in the incident.

The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla have long been used as a migration route towards Europe.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​