Palestinian boy found in trolley pulled by couple trying to get into Spain from Morocco

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A man and a woman were arrested after reportedly pulling the boy in a cart as they tried to cross the Moroccan border into Spain.

A 10-year-old Palestinian boy has been found hidden inside a shopping trolley being pulled by a couple trying to get to Spain from Morocco.

The child was covered by bags of fruit and vegetables before he was discovered by police.

He was found at the Beni-Enzar border crossing in the Spanish autonomous city of Melilla on the northwest coast of Africa on 31 December.

It is understood the boy’s mother, who was found living at a temporary shelter for migrants, had paid for him to be taken to Europe, but it is not known if he had family waiting for him on the other side.

The couple were arrested and the child taken to be with his mum.

Morocco has become a major gateway into Europe for migrants.

In January of last year, Spanish border guards discovered two migrants hidden inside mattresses strapped to the roof of a car at a checkpoint on the frontier with Morocco.

Video footage of the incident, reportedly filmed in Melilla, was published on social media by a senator in the Spanish parliament.

More than 6,000 migrants have made it to the city and Spain’s nearby Ceuta enclave, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

In October 2018, one African migrant died and three others were injured when around 300 stormed the border fence separating Melilla from Morocco.