THE MASSACRE of 37 young African men killed by border guards in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, within Morocco, is the deadliest loss of life on the Spanish-African frontline, and a reminder of just how little value is placed on black lives in Fortress Europe.

Dozens of migrants died trying to scale a fence in order to enter the so-called territory of Europe, a continent which played a leading role in the very reasons they sought to leave Africa.  Some are said to have died as a result of the fence collapsing. Some are believed to have succumbed to injuries sustained from border guards on both sides of the fence. 

The details remain unclear, and while the investigation continues amid outcry from human rights organisations, the facts themselves, speak volumes.

The backdrop and wider context of what happened too, is bad enough but so are the optics; Melilla is part of Africa, but officially is an enclave of Spanish territory making it part of the European Union.

In theory, this means that once an individual sets foot in Melilla, EU laws should immediately apply to them.  It doesn’t matter how you arrive there or if you illegally scaled a fence to do so.  Once in the EU, a person is entitled to the same rights as anybody else. 

In theory. In practice though, this simply isn’t true.

The treatment of black migrants trying to reach Melilla, reveals the plain and deadly reality that all refugees and migrants are not treated equally or viewed as equally deserving of assistance in Britain’s and Europe’s eyes. 

Black migrants are treated as less than human, as an inconvenience, and as a political football. 

It’s long been alleged that migrants managing to enter Melilla have often, and illegally, been handed right back to the Moroccan authorities in a move known as ‘pushbacks’.

Secondly, you only have to look at the videos of African migrants trying to scale the fence and the way the authorities attacked them to realize that the safety of black migrants is not a priority.  Preserving their lives is not a priority.  Preventing them from reaching the safety of Europe however, is.

There are also claims that in the aftermath of the incident at Melilla, no care was provided to the seriously injured, and that many of them were left without medical treatment with dead bodies literally strewn around them.

And, tellingly, Spain has now called for NATO’s support at the recent summit, in securing its borders from the so-called threat of migrants.  There’s been no talk about making routes for legal asylum claims safer, and no discussion on how black human beings might be better protected and looked after.  No mention of human rights and the grand ideals which are afforded to others.

Because, and here’s the crux of all of this, this issue isn’t really about migration. This issue is about entrenched anti-blackness embedded at the heart of so-called liberal developed democracies.  It’s about Europe’s preference for white refugees, ahead of black and non-white refugees.

How do we know this? Millions of Ukrainians have entered wider Europe, in the largest mass migration movement since World War Two, in a matter of months.  There’s been no backlash.  The Ukrainians have not been treated as a threat to border security. 

On the contrary, red tape has been cut for them, people have taken them into their homes identifying with them, and EU states have bent over backwards to allow them to participate in society including offering them immediate access and a legal pathway to free movement, the job market, and educational resources. 

African migrants however, and a much smaller number of them died trying to seek the exact same protections, at Melilla.  There’s been no serious pledge to introduce mechanisms to ease their plight in order to prevent a similar tragedy – only the blame game. 

There has been no queue of politicians lined up to express solidarity, and no flags or warm gestures for Africans – only a commitment to ensure that Europe keeps the door slammed shut tightly on them.

The glaring double standard in the treatment of non-white refugees and blatent contempt for black lives is clear for all to see.  The deafening and relative silence following the tragedy in Malilla, by the media and the political class is both predictable and nauseating.

The fact is, that if a large group of white refugees trying to enter Europe had died because a fence collapsed and because of alleged beatings by hostile border guards, the world would be outraged and demands would be heard every day in the media for the system to be changed.

However, when the exact same tragedy happens to black refugees and migrants Europe at best, turns a blind eye where possible, and at worst cynically exploits them for the sake of political point scoring.  Black people dying at the border is not treated as a humanitarian crisis, as it should be, but simply as a security threat. 

This tells us all we need to know and is a mark of shame on so-called civilised societies.