UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric accused Morocco and Spain on Tuesday of having resorted to "excessive use of force" against migrants in Melilla last weekend.
A slippage that resulted in “the death of dozens of human beings”.
"This is unacceptable" and this tragedy "must be investigated", he added, adding that the excessive use of force was seen by the UN "on both sides of the border ".
“I want to say how shocked we were by the images of the violence seen on the border between Morocco and Spain in North Africa this weekend and which resulted in the death of dozens of human beings, claimants asylum, migrants," he said.
“People who migrate have human rights and these must be respected and we see them too often flouted,” insisted Stéphane Dujarric.
At least 23 migrants died and 140 police officers were injured, according to Moroccan authorities, when some 2,000 migrants attempted to enter Melilla on Friday.
This toll is the deadliest recorded during the many attempts by sub-Saharan migrants to enter Melilla and the neighboring Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
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