Young migrant uses plastic bottles to stay afloat as he tries to reach Ceuta

Footage shows child crying in water before being ushered away by soldiers on land

A boy has been seen using plastic bottles to stay afloat while out at sea trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

The child, who appears to be around 13 to 14 years old, appears to be crying while in the water around the city, which has seen a surge in migrant arrivals this week.

Thousands have swum or climbed over a fence to make it onto European soil in recent days.

Around 1,500 migrants who made the crossing into Ceuta from Morocco this week are believed to be children and teenagers.

In devestating footage from the area, a visibly distresed boy can be seen swimming to Ceuta‘s beach with a dozen empty plastic bottles tied to his body to help him to float.

While still in the water, a soldier shouts to him from land.

He can then be seen removing the bottles and running across the beach to try and scale a wall, before being removed by soldiers and ushered away.

It was not immediately clear what happened later.

Deporting minors is illegal in Spain.

The rush of migrants into the Spanish city in North Africa began on Monday when Morocco appeared to loosen border controls.

This move has been widely interpreted, including by the Spanish opposition, as retaliation for Spain’s hosting of a Western Sahara independence leader. The Spanish government, however, has sought to keep the two issues separate.

On Thursday, Spain’s defence minister has accused Morocco of “blackmail” over its passivity in the face of a surge in migrant arrivals in Ceuta.

The day before, the Spanish government urged its mainland regions to relieve crammed reception centres for minors in the North African city.

Of the thousands of migrants still in Ceuta, many were children, some as young as seven or nine, some without families, according to Spain’s social rights Minister Ione Belarre.

Spain deployed troops to its North African enclave after the initial rush of arrivals, who detained thousands of migrants who tried to enter the city by water or over fences. Most of these have been sent back to Morocco.

Additional reporting by Reuters