Hundreds of migrants rush border between Morocco and Spain at Ceuta

A Moroccan security officer chasing after a migrant who forced his way through a fence between Morocco and Ceuta on Feb 18, 2017. PHOTO: AFP

MADRID (AFP) - Some 300 migrants stormed the border between Morocco and Spain at Ceuta on Monday (Feb 20), authorities said, days after hundreds more forced their way over the frontier.

The young migrants climbed over the high border fence into the Spanish North African territory, ecstatic to have finally crossed into a European Union state.

Their arrival comes just days after nearly 500 migrants made it over the fence on Friday, one of the biggest entries since the border barrier was reinforced in 2005.

Ceuta and Melilla, also a Spanish territory in North Africa, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, so are entry points for migrants who either climb the border fence, swim along the coast or hide in vehicles.

The enclave has been ringed by a double wire fence 8km long. The 6-m high fence also has rolls of barbed wire.

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