Fearing deportation, migrants sleep rough in Ceuta

Fearing deportation to Morocco or fleeing overcrowded reception centers, hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers slept rough in the streets of Ceuta on Saturday. Some have chosen an abandoned prison while others find shelter between rocks at the port breakwater planning their next move.

The men are not only from Morocco but also Mali, Guinea, Chad and even Liberia and have yet to get access to lawyers to exert their right to seek asylum. Mohamed Bangoura, a 19-year-old from Guinea said he has attempted to reach Europe many times, but says it was "not possible" until now.

"We are here, we sleep in the streets, it's been four days we have been in the streets. There is nothing, no one will support us. So, we just suffer here," he said. Hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers attempt to reach Europe from Africa each year. So far, authorities have confirmed 438 unaccompanied minors were among more than 8,000 people who arrived in Ceuta from Morocco between Monday and Wednesday by scaling a border fence or swimming around it.