(AP) Officials in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, faced complications Friday in reuniting worried Moroccan parents with hundreds of children and teenagers swept up in a diplomatic standoff between Madrid and Rabat over migration and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
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. Social service workers were checking the ages of many more young people who are in shelters or roaming the streets, Mabel Deu, a spokesperson for the autonomous city, said.
A hotline set up Thursday had received 4,400 calls by a day later from desperate relatives seeking information, she said. Many of the inquiries were about minors.
