Melilla: Spanish minister denies responsibility
Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is under fire over a new investigation into the events at the Moroccan-Spanish border crossing in Melilla on 24 June. At least 23 people died and dozens went missing when migrants attempted to storm the border fence and cross into the Spanish exclave. The Minister of the Interior insisted at the time that the Spanish police had acted according to the law.
Undignified stammering and rambling
The minister of the interior must resign, writes eldiario.es:
“The law is being broken and Judge Marlaska, who was supposed to ensure the legality of the Interior Ministry's actions, is responsible for this. There is a model of respect for legality and human rights which a democratic state must adhere to and which a voter of the governing parties can take for granted. ... The stammering and ramblings of a burnt minister about border technicalities and other trivialities cannot distract from the 24 people who died and nearly 60 [other sources talk of 23 dead and dozens of missing persons] who went missing in this veritable bloodbath. ... Marlaska should never have been part of this government and must be dismissed.”
The problem lies in the system
El Periódico de España calls on Europe to find effective and humane solutions to the migration issue:
“One thing is certain: our democracy failed that day. ... The established system is responsible for these human tragedies which are repeated at regular intervals. ... It is clear that Europe's borders must not be left uncontrolled, but a development aid policy that fails to give people on the African continent a chance to prosper and thus avoid the need to emigrate is highly questionable. ... Whatever the minister's fate, Brussels must consider the migration issue as one of the most urgent problems to be resolved.”