Spanish authorities release Adou Ouattara to his mother

Spanish authorities have allowed the mother of an eight year old Ivorian boy to take custody of her son after holding him at a Children’s center since he was discovered in a suitcase on May 7th. Adou Ouattara was found in the suitcase of a Morrocan woman who was crossing the border through the Northern African enclaves of Cueta and Melilla. Adou’s father was arrested after his son was discovered and remains in jail on human rights charges.

The father had been living legally on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands for seven years. His Ivorian wife had joined him and they were trying to bring over two of their children. His lawyer said an “11-year-old daughter had been allowed in recently but Ouattara’s monthly salary fell short of the amount authorities required to care for two children. It was then that the father bought the visas.” The father’s attorney, Juan Isidro Fernandez Dia said that since Adou’s father had bought the Visas, he was under the impression that his son would be brought to him by car and not in the manner that he was discovered. Dia contends that Because the father had paid for a visa for his son there was no reason for Adou to have been smuggled in order to enter the country.

-Abesi Manyando(@abesipr)