NPR News

Dozens died trying to cross this fence into Europe in June. This man survived

Published November 18, 2022 at 4:35 PM EST

Melilla, Spain (October 11, 2022) - Steven Khonkhon, originally from South Sudan, stands on the Spanish side of a four-layered fence dividing Morocco from Spain. On June 24 of this year, Khonkhon and many of his friends and other people trying to get to Europe, charged the fence in an attempt to cross. They were beat back brutally by Morocccan authorities. Dozens died, and more than 70 people are still misssing. Khonkhon made it over to Spain, but his little brother, whom he was trying to cross with, remained stuck in Morocco.

https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2022/11/20221118_atc_dozens_died_trying_to_cross_this_fence_into_europe_in_june_this_man_survived.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1004&aggIds=1131399786&d=680&p=2&story=1134824848&ft=nprml&f=1001

To visit a popular transit point into Spain, you have to go to Africa. There, you will find Melilla, a city perched on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

Migrants spend years trying to get there.

This has provoked severe border restrictions by Spanish officials.

"Melilla today is like a bunker. It's like living in an island," says Irene Flores, a longtime Spanish journalist in Melilla.

The Spanish enclave city has changed in the last few decades, making it all the more difficult for people like Steven Khon Khon to enter