Irun, Spain, Jan 26 (AFP/APP):”Guys, we’ve got to get out of here!” urges Junior, a 20-year-old migrant from Ivory Coast, breaking the tense silence inside the train crossing the Spanish border into France.
Crossing from Irun in Spain to the French border town of Hendaye is the last obstacle for young migrants desperate to reach France, their desired destination whatever the cost.
Many come from former French colonies in West Africa where French is widely spoken and want to join family members living and working in France.
But at the station in Hendaye, French police are on patrol.
With Junior are five other migrants from Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast. But only he dares get off the train.
“You don’t have a visa, you can’t come here,” one of the police officers tells him after glancing through his passport.
When they think the coast is clear, the other five quickly drop down onto the tracks.
“Stay where you are!” bellows a policeman, prompting one of the young migrants to race for a two-metre fence which he scrambles over, disappearing off into the streets.
But the others freeze as the police approach and give them forms marked “entry refused”. They are then put back on the train to the Spanish border town of Irun, an AFP correspondent said.
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