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40 sub-Saharan immigrants storm into Spanish enclave of Melilla

Xinhua, August 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

A number of 40 sub-Saharan immigrants were able to storm their way over the frontier fence separating the Spanish North-African enclave of Melilla from Morocco on Saturday morning.

The assault on the frontier took place at 6:45 a.m. local time as 150 people attempted to cross into what is Spanish, and therefore also European Union, territory, the government delegate in Melilla informed.

Of the 150 who made the attempt, 40 were successful and make their way through the streets of the Melilla to the Center For Temporary Immigrant Residency (CETI) in the center of the town.

There have been no reports of injuries among immigrants making the attempt or among Spanish Civil Guards and Moroccan security forces guarding the frontier.

Some of the immigrants who made it into Melilla told journalists that they have been waiting outside of the frontier for three months before attempting to scale the six meter high fence and confirmed that they had originally come from Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso and Gambia.

This is the first major attempt to cross between Morocco and Melilla in almost two months with the last major assault on the frontier on June 26 when a group of 120 people, of whom 30 were successful, tried to cross into Melilla. Endit