Spain, Morocco turn focus to young migrants stuck at border

With border crossings of migrants apparently under control, Spain and Morocco have turned their attention to the plight of hundreds of mostly teenagers stranded on both sides of their frontier

CEUTA, Spain -- With border crossings of migrants apparently under control, Spain and Morocco turned their attention Thursday to the plight of hundreds of mostly teenagers stranded on both sides of their frontier amid one of the biggest diplomatic spats between the two countries in recent years. In Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the northern African coast at the center of the dispute, hundreds of unaccompanied minors were cramming for a 10-day compulsory quarantine in charity-run warehouses under police watch. Some climbed onto the buildings' roofs to escape. The Spanish government has announced that 200 of the young migrants who were already in the city of 85,000 before this week's sudden surge in arrivals would be transferred to the mainland in coming days in order to leave space in government-run facilities in Ceuta. Under Spain's laws, the minors remain under the care of regional authorities until their relatives can be found or they come of age. Many were also roaming the streets, looking for shelter, food and trying to press on with their dream of reaching Europe. As night fell, dozens of very young men climbed a perimeter barbed-wired fence into the city's port in the hopes of sneaking onto cargo ships and ferries crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to mainland Spain.