- Moroccan man arrested for trying to smuggle a migrant in the dashboard
- Refugee was found by Spanish police hiding in the tiny hollow next to engine
- He was one of two sub-Saharan migrants detained for trying to cross border
- Comes just days after a Moroccan woman was arrested in Ceuta for trying to smuggle a migrant, 19, from Gabon, inside a suitcase
A Moroccan man has been arrested for trying to smuggle a migrant in the dashboard of a car across the border with Spain.
The refugee was found by Spanish police hiding in the tiny hollow next to the engine in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Africa.
He was one of two sub-Saharan migrants detained for trying to cross the border into Spain. The other was found hiding in the rear seat of the vehicle.
It comes just days after a Moroccan woman was arrested in Ceuta for trying to smuggle a migrant, 19, from Gabon, inside a suitcase.
A refugee was found hiding in the dashboard of a car in a desperate attempt to reach Spain
The other migrant was found hiding in the rear seat of the vehicle at Ceuta today
Details of the latest incident emerged as more than 1,000 African migrants yesterday tried to cross into Spain via Ceuta by storming a border fence.
Dozens of migrants made it to the top of the six metre barbed wire fence in the early hours before being lifted down by cranes, footage from local TV station Faro TV showed.
Only two people were allowed into Ceuta to be taken to hospital while the rest were returned to Morocco, the Spanish government said in a statement.
A 19-year-old migrant, from Gabon, was smuggled across the Morocco-Spain border in a case
Five Spanish police and 50 from Morocco were injured, the government added, after migrants used rocks and metal bars to try and break through gates to access the fence and clashed with authorities.
Spain’s two enclaves in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, are often used as entry points into Europe for African migrants, who either climb over their border fences or try to swim along the coast.
Spain has drawn criticism from human rights groups for allowing some migrants to be immediately turned back to Morocco in such incidents. They argue that skipping the lengthier deportation procedures deprives people of the opportunity to claim asylum.
In early December more than 400 sub-Saharan African migrants managed to force their way over the Ceuta border fence.
However, Libya has become a more common departure point for African migrants, most of whom come from sub-Saharan countries and attempt the crossing to Italy by boat.
2016 was the deadliest year ever for migrants in the Mediterranean, with almost 5,000 deaths, according to the International Organization for Migration.
