Another human avalanche at the Spanish border on the northern Moroccan coast has led to even greater overcrowding at the immigration centres and sparked further debate on how far border police should be allowed to go in deterring illegal migrants.
The 200 sub-Saharan Africans who climbed the fence into the Spanish-owned city-province of Melilla en masse allegely threw sticks, stones and bottles at border guards, who have been ordered not to use rubber bullets in light of the recent tragedy at the other outpost of Spain on the same coast, Ceuta, in which 16 Africans lost their lives.
Whilst the Guardia Civil – backed by the ministry of the interior – claims it only fired shots into the air to scare the would-be migrants, video footage shows them aiming rubber pellets at the 'intruders' and shouting insults.
The European Commission has called for an inquiry, whilst the police unions say 'depriving' officers of their rubber bullets is like 'depriving a surgeon of his scalpel'....
This is becoming a very difficult situation to control, however under no circumstances can "killing migrants" be accepted or defended. I'm not sure what the solution is.. the border must be controlled and a country has the right to defend it but where do you draw the line? Should all deterrants be "passive" such as fences and walls?