UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said today he was sending an urgent mission to Morocco to discuss African migrants after 11 were killed this week trying to get into Spanish enclaves.
Mr Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, voiced concern that some African refugees entitled to apply for asylum and international protection were among the immigrants scaling razor-wire border fences between the two countries.
Hundreds of Africans have stormed the borders in recent weeks and Spain and Morocco have responded by sending troops to the frontier. Six migrants were killed on Wednesday, adding to five killed last week.
"We are preparing a mission that will very soon go to Morocco, (and are) hoping that the situation can be dealt with in an adequate way in the future," Mr Guterres told a news briefing in Geneva.
"The question for us is a question of physical access to asylum procedures and granting refugee status determination to those entitled to it. That is our concern," he said.
The UNHCR -- whose global mandate covers refugees fleeing war or persecution rather than economic migrants -- was also working with Spanish authorities to ensure that people in need of protection are granted access to asylum procedures, he said.
Spain and Morocco are both seeking ways to stem the flow of migrants and Madrid announced on yesterday it would send 70 migrants, who have entered Spanish territory via Morocco in recent days back to its neighbour.
Some 52 African migrants who recently came to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, from 10 countries ranging from Mali to Sudan and Liberia, have sought asylum, a UNHCR spokesman said.