Man and son, 7, swim home to Morocco after being stranded in Spanish enclave

The orange sun sets behind the clouds across the sea.

A Moroccan man has swum back home with his 7-year-old son from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco, after being stranded there since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Michelle Maria/Pixabay

Published Oct 15, 2020

Share

The pair made the journey on Saturday by swimming across the Benzu embankment.

Cape Town - A Moroccan man has swum back home with his 7-year-old son from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave bordering Morocco, after being stranded there since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a report by online news publication Morocco World News, the man made the journey on Saturday by swimming across the Benzu embankment.

According to local media, some other Moroccans stranded in Ceuta have made their way back home through swimming after the closure of land borders between Morocco and Ceuta.

A Moroccan woman managed to swim back to Morocco in August, and in April five young Moroccans tried to make their way back by swimming across the embankment.

Four were able to reach the Castillejos beach in the northern town of Fnideq, while the fifth fell into the hands of the Spanish Civil Guard, reports Morocco World News.

News and information website Info Migrants reported in February that Morocco has ramped up arrests and clamped down on migration across its borders to Ceuta.

According to local media, since the beginning of the year there have been numerous reports detailing how much more difficult it has become to cross the border between Morocco and Ceuta.

The enclave was once seen as a gateway to Europe for migrants coming from across the African continent and beyond, writes Info Migrants.

At the start of the pandemic, Moroccan authorities closed its land and sea borders to help keep the virus from reaching its shores.

According to a Voice of America report, the closures left more than 21 000 Moroccans stranded around the world, including legal workers in Ceuta and Melilla who live in Morocco and work in Spain in construction and commerce or as domestic employees.

African News Agency (ANA)

Related Topics:

Covid-19