An African man has been found crammed behind the glove box of a car in a bid to get to Europe—one of four people spotted in vehicles on the same day by authorities in Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in north Africa.
Three people—including a 15-year-old girl—were found in separate cars at the Beni-Enzar border between Morocco and Melilla on May 24.
Two hid in special compartments behind the dashboard and a third was under a rear seat, images taken by Spain’s Civil Guard show. Two were treated by medics for asphyxia, disorientation and joint pain.
A fourth person was also found on May 24 under a truck in the Melilla port.
In recent years, thousands of illegal immigrants seeking a better life in Europe have tried to enter Spain via its two enclaves in north Africa, Melilla and Ceuta—with some scaling huge fences topped by razor wire.
In January, a woman was caught smuggling a teenage African migrant hidden in her suitcase into Ceuta.
A young woman has been caught trying to smuggle a teenage refugee hidden in her suitcase into Spanish territory https://t.co/f2JK7WJQO9 pic.twitter.com/6XlLU9NC4m
— CNN International (@cnni) January 3, 2017
Shocking Video Shows Mattresses Cut Open to Reveal Illegal Immigrants
In a similar incident earlier this year, a viral video shared on social media shows a daring attempt to fool border authorities along the border dividing Europe and Africa.
The footage shows authorities cutting open two mattresses to reveal illegal immigrants hidden inside. Border guards found them at a checkpoint between Melilla, a Spanish enclave on the north African coast, and Morocco.
The footage has circulated worldwide and created a stir because of the novelty of the smuggling tactic.
The video shows men in Guardia Civil uniforms removing the mattresses from the top of a police vehicle and setting them down on the ground.
The authorities then take knives and cut open the mattresses one at a time to reveal the illegal migrants inside.
The two migrants appear to be young male Africans and look confused as to where they are.
The footage was shared by Spanish senator Jon Inarritu on his Twitter page. The senator claimed that the European Union should provide places for migrants to request asylum.
Mientras no haya #víasseguras para solicitar asilo, seguirán produciéndose situaciones como esta en la #FronteraSur de #Europa. #Melilla #Asilo pic.twitter.com/bVMW6jJOVb
— Jon Inarritu (@JonInarritu) December 30, 2018
“As long as there are no safe routes to request asylum, situations like this will continue to occur in the southern border of Europe,” he said, reported the Daily Mail. The driver of the vehicle used to transport the mattresses to the checkpoint fled into Morocco and was not detained.
Melilla and another Spanish enclave, Ceuta, have the European Union’s only land border with Africa, which alongside the Middle East has been the source of millions of migrants, many of them Muslim, coming into the European Union in the last several years. More than a million arrived in 2015 alone.
NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.