MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government says several hundred African migrants staged multiple attempts to scale the border fences separating Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco, with about 60 managing to get across.
The Interior Ministry said the simultaneous border stampedes started around 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Monday at different points along the border fence that stretches around the city, foiling the ability of Moroccan and Spanish police to repel all the migrants.
The 60 migrants who managed to avoid police interception headed for city’s temporary migrant accommodation center. Police eventually will repatriate the migrants or let them go.
Thousands of African immigrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter Spain’s enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta each year, hoping to reach Europe and create a better life.
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