An 8-year-old boy who was found hidden in a suitcase as he was being smuggled from Morocco into Spain was granted a temporary residence permit from the local government Thursday.

Adou Ouattara from the Ivory Coast was discovered when police scanned the suitcase at a checkpoint in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, on May 7, reports the Associated Press.

The city’s Interior Ministry office said Ouattara’s temporary visa is good for one year.

The boy’s father, Ali Ouattara, was arrested on charges of human-rights abuse for trying to have the boy smuggled across the frontier, but his legal representative insists the man knew nothing of the plan.

Lawyer Francesco Luca Caronna told AP that Ouattara, who lives legally with his wife in Spain, believed his son was traveling in a car with a visa that had been paid for abroad.

A Moroccan woman who was carrying the suitcase was also detained. She is apparently not a family relative.

[AP]

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Write to Helen Regan at helen.regan@timeasia.com.