A homosexual Moroccan migrant has claimed to have been the victim of a homophobic attack by a man in Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla, who told him the area was “Muslim territory”.
The incident is said to have taken place on August 28th while the young Moroccan was sitting on a bench in the Plaza Torres Quevedo and a man across from him began to harass him and shout at him.
According to the Moroccan, the aggressor shouted various things such as, “God is going to burn you, faggot,” and “Son of a bitch, you have been given too many rights here, faggot: this is territory is Muslim,” Spanish newspaper La Nueva España reports.
The Moroccan stated that during the torrent of insults, including being told he deserved death and that he was going to Hell, he called the local police — but before they could arrive, the assailant grabbed him by the shirt and began punching him.
The attacker was able to flee the scene before police arrived. The young Moroccan is said to have suffered injuries to his jaw and his knee.
According to the Association of Gays and Lesbians of Melilla (Amlega), the attacker found the Moroccan in the local emergency room and began to threaten him again due to his sexual orientation.
The association also stated that its headquarters had been attacked last week on September 3rd, saying: “We have witnessed a hate crime towards our headquarters. Spitting and urine filled the exterior decoration of the headquarters.”
Similar homophobic attacks have been seen in many countries in recent years, with a 2018 report from the German capital of Berlin stating that migration-background men were behind most of the attacks on homosexuals the previous year.
More recently, a Nigerian lesbian woman was seriously injured in a homophobic attack in 2020 after another Nigerian threw boiling water on her at a Dutch asylum home, causing second-degree burns.