Canary Islands: Investigation into WhatsApp groups encouraging attacks against Moroccans
The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office in the Canary Islands has launched an investigation into participants in various WhatsApp groups in which Spaniards have attempted to organize to intimidate or beat irregular migrants on the island of Gran Canaria.
According to the Spanish agency EFE, the chief prosecutor of Las Palmas on Monday ordered to investigate several messages and groups that circulated two weeks ago with calls to travel to southern Gran Canaria in groups to attack these migrants accommodated in certain tourist establishments temporarily converted into humanitarian shelters.
The island, located off the African coast, has recorded a significant flow of migrants in recent months, which has overwhelmed all assistance services, recalls the Spanish agency EFE.
At the same time, voices have risen over the past two months against this massive immigration and its consequences for the islands; the situation has been compared to those experienced in other islands in southern Europe such as Lampedusa (Italy) or Lesbos (Greece).
The prosecution announced that it would monitor any behavior inciting xenophobic or racist hatred against those who arrived in the Canary Islands irregularly, and that it was in contact with the police and the civil guard to know the preventive measures to be taken. in order to avoid incidents.
Two weeks ago, in various smartphone messaging groups, many written and audio messages with threatening content against immigrants circulated, with phrases like “the Moors will die” or calls to organize themselves into armed groups to persecute those of North African origin in the south of Gran Canaria.
In recent days too, up to three protests, breaking in some cases the curfew due to the pandemic, have taken place against the presence of migrants in Las Palmas.
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