Fnideq, Morocco — Moroccan high school student Mohamed, 17, dropped everything — his studies, his final exams, even his family — to try to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, like countless other youngsters who see no future in the North African country.
Since Monday, more than 8,000 would-be migrants, many of them unaccompanied minors, have managed to scramble, wade or swim across the border in search of a better life in Europe.
Most have been sent straight back by the Spanish authorities, who have been angered by the blind eye turned by Moroccan border guards as the youngsters streamed across to the tiny enclave of 84,000 people.
But with already limited job prospects …
Keep on reading: Moroccan teens ready to give up everything to reach Europe