Rabat – The Royal Marine rescued 472 undocumented migrants Friday night, according to a statement from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR).
The list of migrants includes 28 women and 27 teenagers and 3 children, but most were men.
“All the migrants and the nautical means used were brought back safely,” the statement added.
The statement did not mention the migrants’ nationalities.
The 472 passengers are among the latest in a growing number of men, women and children making the risky sea journey in hopes of reaching Europe.
Earlier this month, at least 35 migrants, including Moroccans, were killed after a boat capsized off Tunisia’s southern coast.
Tunisian coastguards managed to rescue 67 others, including two Moroccans.
Thousands of migrants die every year in attempts to cross the Mediterranean for Europe.
The precarious sea voyage claimed the lives of 90 migrants in February after a migrant boat capsized off the Libyan coast near the city of Zuara. Libya has become the home of thousands of migrants, including Moroccans, stranded in detention centers after failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean.
Tripoli’s Illegal Immigration Agency announced on June 5 that the repatriation of undocumented Moroccan migrants trapped in Libya has started, with an operation to bring back home 14 Moroccan nationals.
The agency added that the operation will be carried out via daily flights to Morocco.
In May, 60 undocumented Moroccan migrants began a hunger strike to protest delays in their repatriation to Morocco.
The number of irregular migrants in Libya reached 700,000 by the end of 2017.
