The video of the migrant boy who strapped empty water bottles to help him stay afloat during his frantic attempt to reach the Spanish soil vent viral and broke millions of hearts.
The 14-year-old boy couldn’t stop his tears as he was telling the soldiers at shore that he had no family left in Morocco. Sadly, he had no idea what he would encounter in the foreign land, but knew one thing, that he would rather die than go back to his homeland.
“He didn’t want to go back, he didn’t have any family in Morocco, he didn’t care if he died from cold; he preferred to die … than go back to Morocco,” soldier Rachid Mohamed al Messaoui said, according to India Times.
The dangerous journey started from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, a city 40 miles across ocean from Gibraltar which is British overseas territory on Spain’s south coast.
According to British Independent, after Morocco loosened border controls, the number of people who tried to reach the Spanish soil climbed to roughly 8000.
As deporting minors is illegal in Spain, no one knows what happened to the crying boy.
Another minor who had undertaken the same route was reported to have died in the attempt to reach Ceuta.
Spanish troops are detaining migrants who are trying to enter the city by water or through the fence. Many have been sent back to their homeland of Morocco.