Ceuta prosecutor probes child deportations by Spanish soldiers

FILE PHOTO: A Moroccan boy swims using bottles as a float, near the fence between the Spanish-Moroccan border, after thousands of migrants swam across the border, in Ceuta, Spain, May 19, 2021. Picture taken May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta are investigating accusations that Spanish soldiers broke the law by deporting children who had crossed the border from Morocco during a surge in attempted migration last week.

Ceuta's prosecutor for children, Jose Luis Puerta, said on Friday he had opened the inquiry after two non-governmental organisations filed a complaint citing Reuters TV footage of soldiers apparently escorting a young boy, who had swum to Ceuta using empty bottles as floats, back to the border fence.