In news that will surprise no one, the preliminary report into the deaths (massacre) in the Moroccan Spanish enclave of Melilla has concluded that the 23 refugees it says died, likely “suffocated” after falling while trying to climb the border fence. (1) The report includes accounts from local security forces who claimed they respected the laws and did not resort to excessive force despite their “attackers’ use of violence, even though this flies in the face of widely reported “bloodbath” captured on video and photograph. (2) Morocco’s National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) who submitted the report are feeding into a global narrative that essentially classifies refugees as sub-human. (3)
The most charitable perspective on offer is that migrants and/or refugees are victims of mafia-type people smugglers but even this gets nowhere near the truth. (4) Few reports mention the fallout from NATOs 2011 invasion of Libya and how it destabilised the entire region ever since, nor the fact that what we can euphemistically call the USA’s (and allies) foreign policy imperatives have displaced 37 million globally (conservative estimate) since September 2001. (5)
Another none too subtle factor depicts Afrikans from “s***hole countries” clamouring for the riches the west nations bequeathed to themselves by dint of their civilisation. (6) Yet it remains the case that World is plundering Africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year’ through “multinationals repatriating profits and illegally moving money into tax havens, or by costs imposed by the rest of the world through climate change adaptation and mitigation.” (7) Seen in historical context, even this amount, which doesn’t even include for example the scandal of the colonial pact, must be seen as the tip of the proverbial iceberg of stolen resources. (8) So, in the fashion of Mutabaruka they could simply be proclaiming:
“Gimme mi dis
Gimme mi dat
Gimme back mi every thing yuh got” (9)
As a portent of what is to come the preliminary report makes it clear that we should not expect justice or accountability. So what should our response be. If we look to elected officials, the African Union offered a mere two paragraphs calling for an investigation and reminding all countries “to treat migrants with dignity”. (10)
However, on the independent grassroot and revolutionary front The 4th international Pan-Africanist movement, Black journalist Association in Spain and GAC-spain, are convening a Pan-Africanist convention at the European level for reparationist grassroot in Madrid, during the last weekend of October for activists. Dr Abuy Nfubea of the Black Journalist Association who is spearheading the convention said:
“As a response to the neo-colonial black genocide of Melilla spain with 54 Africans murdered. The pain is still very great but we resist and move on. Like the greatest women in history, honourable Winnie Madikizela after the Soweto massacre, we refuse to accept the cowardly and complicit silence of the neo-colonial Uncle Tom African State whose ambassadors acted in Madrid, today they still have not signed or done anything to help or protect us Africans. As Bob Marley said “How long shall they kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look? We refuse to accept this situation.”
There is a need to advocate on behalf of and even ‘re-humanise’ Afrikan refugees and migrants in the public sphere. Indeed, the Ukraine war laid bare the differential perception and treatment of displaced Europeans and Afrikans and how this is accepted and promoted by the establishment through its inherently racist policies. (11) But Ultimately, we need to be clear that the treatment of migrants and refugees is but a metaphor for how all of us are perceived, even if we’re “born and raised..”
(1) Oussama Aamari (13/07/22) CNDH Reveals Preliminary Findings of Melilla Investigation. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/07/350225/cndh-reveals-preliminary-findings-of-melilla-investigation
(2) Ibid; Ashifa Kassam (30/06/22) ‘A bloodbath’: refugees reel from deadly Melilla mass crossing. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/30/a-bloodbath-refugees-reel-from-deadly-melilla-mass-crossing; Esteban Beltrán (28/06/22) Melilla: Never again. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/melilla-never-again/
(3) Maria Grazia Sindoni (2017) ‘Migrants are Cockroaches’. Hate speech in British tabloids. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323289404_%27Migrants_are_Cockroaches%27_Hate_speech_in_British_tabloids
(4) Mark Townsend (27/11/21) Priti Patel blames ‘evil’ gangs for Channel crossings but the reality is far more complicated. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/priti-patel-blames-evil-gangs-for-channel-crossings-but-the-reality-is-far-more-complicated
(5) Mukoni Ratshiṱanga (05/07/22) The Melilla massacre: Silence begets injustice. https://mg.co.za/top-six/2022-07-05-the-melilla-massacre-silence-begets-injustice/; DavidVine, Cala Coffman, Katalina Khoury, Madison Lovasz, Helen Bush, Rachael Leduc, and Jennifer Walkup (21/09/20) Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the United States’ Post-9/11 Wars. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2020/Displacement_Vine%20et%20al_Costs%20of%20War%202020%2009%2008.pdf
(6) Ivan Munguongeyo (25/01/18) ‘Shithole’ countries: Is this a true description of developing nations? https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/-shithole-countries-is-this-a-true-description-of-developing-nations–1737712
(7) Karen McVeigh (24/05/17) World is plundering Africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/may/24/world-is-plundering-africa-wealth-billions-of-dollars-a-year
(8) Walter Rodney (1988) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications; Mariamawit Tadesse (10/08/18) The CFA Franc Zones: Neocolonialism and Dependency. https://economicquestions.org/cfa-franc-neocolonialism/
(9) Mutabaruka (2005) the next poems. Paul Issa Publications. p. 26
(10) African Union (26/06/22) The Chairperson of the AUC expresses shock at violent treatment of African migrants at Morocco-Spain border leading to deaths and injuries, calls for an immediate investigation. https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20220626/chairperson-expresses-shock-violent-treatment-african-migrants
(11) Barbie Latza Nadeau (17/03/22) Refugees From Other Wars Want to Know Why White Ukrainians Get VIP Treatment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/refugees-from-other-wars-want-to-know-why-white-ukrainians-get-vip-treatment; Richard Sudan (19/04/22) Ukraine exposes US and Europe’s blatant preference for white refugees. https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/ukraine-exposes-us-europes-preference-white-refugees; Diane Abbott (30/05/22) The truth is out: Britain’s immigration system is racist, and always has been. Now let’s fix it. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/30/britain-immigration-system-racist-laws
we ask the question:
Melilla Massacre: What should the Pan-Afrikan response be?
1) Were you surprised by the findings of the preliminary report?
2) How can the current migrant/refugee narrative be challenged?
3) Should migrants come to Europe to reclaim stolen wealth?
4) Can we look to the African Union for leadership in these matters? Why?
5) What is the role of the grassroots?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of almost 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Dr Abuy Nfubea: is journalist editor Uhuru Afrika tv. He founded Black panther party in spain in 1988 and he has dedicated his life to oriented to Garveyism and reparations between Afrikan communities who speak Spanish. He founded and runs The 4th Internacional Garveyista Movement in places like Guinea Equatorial, Ghana, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain, Portugal, Ecuador, Mexico Colombia Curacao, Argentina, Brasil, Bolivia, Chile and Canada.
JUSTICE FOR THE “ESN” VICTIMS: (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/612398).