Crying migrant boy uses plastic bottles to stay afloat in his desperate bid to reach Spanish enclave as Madrid accuses Morocco of ‘aggression’ and ‘blackmail’ over surge in arrivals
- Footage shows the child paddling desperately towards El Tarajal beach in Ceuta and clinging onto a buoy
- He is one of a record 8,000 people to cross from Morocco into Spain since Monday, overwhelming authorities
- Spain has accused Morocco of ‘blackmail’ over allowing such huge numbers to cross the border
- The enormous influx comes amid a bitter diplomatic row between Madrid and Rabat over a militant leader
- Morocco is angered by Spain’s decision to treat Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, who has Covid
A weeping migrant boy used plastic bottles to stay afloat during a desperate bid to reach a Spanish enclave.
Footage captured on Wednesday shows the youngster crying as he paddled towards the shore and clung to a buoy, surrounded by floating soda bottles attached to his waist.
The boy was one of thousands of people who attempted to make the crossing from Morocco into the Spanish city of Ceuta this week, prompting Madrid to accuse Rabat of ‘aggression’ and ‘blackmail’.
As he left the water, the boy darted across the beach past Spanish soldiers and attempted to scale a wall barefoot before being detained.
Since Monday, a record 8,000 migrants have crossed into Ceuta from Morocco, prompting chaotic scenes as authorities struggled to manage the unprecedented influx.
The mass movement comes amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over Spain’s decision to provide medical treatment to a militant leader who has been fighting Morocco for decades.
A migrant boy used plastic bottles to stay afloat during his desperate bid to reach a Spanish enclave
The boy is one of thousands of people to make the crossing from Morocco into the Spanish city of Ceuta this week, prompting Madrid to accuse Rabat of ‘aggression’ and ‘blackmail’
Footage shows the child paddling towards the shore, surrounded by floating soda bottles attached to his waist
After he left the water, the boy darted across the beach past Spanish soldiers and attempted to scale a wall barefoot before he was detained
On Thursday, Spain accused Morocco of ‘blackmail’ for allowing the migrants to reach Ceuta.
Spanish authorities were caught by surprise on Monday when thousands of mostly young people began swimming or using inflatable rubber rings and dinghies to cross the border, with Moroccan forces appearing to look the other way.
Madrid moved quickly to return most of the migrants and calm has largely returned to the beach of El Tarajal in Ceuta, where hundreds of soldiers in armoured vehicles have been deployed.
The outskirts of Fnideq, a Moroccan border town, were deserted on Thursday under a heavy security presence following scuffles on Wednesday night.
Hundreds of Moroccan youths threw stones at Moroccan forces guarding the border, forcing them to retreat, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.
A motorcycle was also set alight by the young people.
The enormous influx of people into Ceuta comes amid strained relations between Madrid and Rabat over the former’s decision to provide medical treatment for Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, who has Covid-19.
The armed group has fought for the independence of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony mainly under Moroccan control, for decades.
Since Monday, a record 8,000 migrants have crossed into Ceuta from Morocco, prompting scenes of panic and distress as authorities struggled to manage the unprecedented influx. Pictured: Arrivals gathered outside a warehouse as they wait to be tested for coronavirus at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Wednesday
A view of the Albergue de Piniers where around 800 unaccompanied migrant children are being housed after arriving in Spain
Madrid moved quickly to return most of the migrants and calm has largely returned to the beach of El Tarajal (pictured Thursday) in Ceuta, where hundreds of soldiers in armoured vehicles have been deployed
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Morocco’s actions were ‘an aggression of Spanish borders and of the borders of the European Union’.
‘We are not talking about youths aged 16, 17, children as young as seven or eight were allowed through according to NGOs… ignoring international law,’ she said in an interview with Spanish public radio on Thursday.
‘Call it what you want but I call it blackmail,’ she said, adding ‘it is not acceptable to put the lives of minors or of people of one’s own country, at risk.’
Spain’s government said that around 5,600 of the 8,000 migrants had already been sent back to Morocco, and there were no new entries on Wednesday as anyone who reached Ceuta’s beach was immediately returned.
Some of the returned migrants said they hoped to try cross over into Ceuta again if border controls were eased once more.
‘I have no future here, I want to work to help my family,’ 17-year-old Mohamed told AFP in Fnideq after being returned from Ceuta.
He left his studies and his family in Morocco to try to enter Spain in search of a better life.
Hassan, 17, said ‘one day I will try my luck again and I will make it,’ adding he ‘dreams of living in Europe’.
Migrants clashed with Moroccan riot police in the northern town of Fnideq, close to the border between Morocco and Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, on Wednesday night
A group of migrants burned a skip during clashes with Moroccan riot police in the northern town of Fnideq, close to the border between Morocco and Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, on Wednesday night
Migrants have been swimming around the border separating the Moroccan town of Fnideq from the Spanish town of Ceuta, while others have tried to run across the land border between fences
One man throws a rock onto a burning motorbike during clashes with Moroccan riot police in the northern town of Fnideq on Wednesday night
Moroccan riot police retreat after being pelted with stones by youths on Wednesday night during a clash at the border with Spain
Youth unemployment is a chronic issue in Morocco, where 80 percent of unemployed people are aged between 15 and 34, according to US government figures.
Barefoot or in sandals, the mostly young people have tried to cross into Ceuta, a small enclave of 84,000 inhabitants which is connected to mainland Spain by ferry services across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.
Ceuta, along with Spain’s other North African enclave Melilla, have the European Union’s only land border with Africa and have long been a magnet for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.
Earlier this week Spanish soldiers fired tear gas to prevent the migrants from nearing the border fence.
Several people were injured according to Moroccan media, but Rabat has not offered an official figure.
Spain has received the support of top European officials, with European Commission vice president Margaritis Schinas warning that Europe ‘won’t let itself be intimidated by anyone on the issue of migration’ in a veiled allusion to Morocco.
Rabat responded in the form of a flurry of angry dispatches published by the official MAP news agency saying that ‘Morocco is a sovereign country’ and ‘is not the police of Europe’.
Several NGOs have expressed concern over the huge number of minors who have crossed over into Ceuta from Morocco – and the fact that Madrid is sending them back.
‘Asylum seekers and migrants are being used as pawns in a political game between Morocco and Spain,’ Amnesty International said in a statement.
It estimated that ‘around 2,000 unaccompanied children’ had entered Ceuta this week from Morocco.
Pictured: Unaccompanied Moroccan minors at Albergue de Piniers shelter on Thursday
Pictured: Unaccompanied Moroccan minors at Albergue de Piniers shelter on Thursday
The crisis erupted after it emerged that Brahim Ghali (pictured), an independence fighter involved in a decades-long war with Morocco, is being treated in Spain for Covid – causing fury on the Moroccan side [File photo]
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