This was truly a heart crushing moment touched the hearts of millions around the globe – a 14-year-old boy crying as he attempts to stay afloat in the ocean while making a dangerous journey to a new country.
He has no clue what would take place once he reached the shore after he migrated by himself from his home in Morocco, telling those on the shore that he had no family left.
The young boy was captured on camera crying while using plastic water bottles to keep himself afloat as he made the frantic journey to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.
The city is 40 miles across ocean from Gibraltar which is British overseas territory on Spain’s south coast.
Thousands have swum or climbed over a fence to make it onto European soil in recent days, according to British newspaper the Independent.
The youngster tied the empty plastic bottles to his body in an attempt to stay afloat. The video shows him removing the bottles when he reaches the shore and running across the beach to scale a wall.
“He didn’t want to go back, he didn’t have any family in Morocco, he didn’t care if he died from cold; he preferred to die … than go back to Morocco,” soldier Rachid Mohamed al Messaoui said as per India Times citing Reuters.
Soldiers then catch up with him and take him away. It’s not clear what happened to him after. Deporting minors is illegal in Spain.
The rush of migrants into the Spanish city began on Monday when Morocco appeared to loosen border controls.
About 6,000 migrants managed to cross from Morocco to the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta by Tuesday. Many of them swam. One young man drowned as he tried to reach the enclave, as per DW.com.
Around 1,500 migrants who made the crossing are believed to be children and teenagers.
Spain sent troops to the area and detained thousands of migrants who tried to enter the city by water or over fences. Most of these have been sent back to Morocco.
