Escape

There are also migrants who manage to jump over what is now a six-metre-high triple fence aimed at containing Europe and keeping Africa out.

“There is no other way,” said Osama, a 20-year old Yemeni who arrived from Sana’a, and said he succeeded on his second attempt to enter Melilla. “I was told the easiest way was over the fence.”

‘It’s a disgrace’

Osama isn’t alone. More than 4,700 in Ceuta and Melilla have jumped the fence from Morocco so far this year, most of them arriving in Melilla. In both enclaves, but more recently in Ceuta, there have been mass jumps, believed to have been co-ordinated by smugglers. In Melilla, 130 from sub-Saharan Africa jumped over in January.