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Rabat – Spanish news outlet Malaga Hoy reported that Spain has sent 750 vehicles, 15 drones, and dozens of radar equipment sets to Morocco to help improve migration control.
The news outlet published an editorial on Tuesday, August 12, which praised Morocco’s collaboration with Spain in migration border control. The editorial reported that the collaboration has resulted in a “significant decrease in the arrival of migrants to Spain.”
Malaga Hoy said that 13, 326 irregular migrants arrived in Spain, “almost 9,000 less than in the previous period.”
The online paper also recalled Spanish activism in favor of Morocco’s government at the European Union, which led to the approval of a €140 million grant.
“The Council of Ministers approved the sending of another €30 million to Morocco from the Contingency Fund,” Malaga Hoy added.
The editorial team of the paper said that there should be shared responsibility between the countries of origin and the recipient countries.
“We must collaborate with African countries (…) to stop migration,” the paper said.
Morocco’s efforts to curb irregular migration have received praise from Spanish news outlets over recent months.
Earlier this month, ABC news outlet said that Morocco’s efforts helped slow irregular migration in Spain. The month of July ended with a significant decrease irregular migration, ABC said.
The news outlet added that in July security services intercepted 2,362 migrants at sea compared to 7,885 in the same period in 2018.
The number of aborted attempts in July represents a 70% decrease.
Morocco considers Spain one of its major partners in the fight against irregular migration.
Director of immigration and border surveillance at the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior Khalid Zerouali said that “together with Spain, we work for the best interests of minors.”
“We are a responsible country prepared to welcome these children, if they are truly ours, we must first identify them to make sure they are Moroccans,” he explained.
On August 13, European Border and Coastguard Agency Frontex said that the “number of detections of illegal border crossings on Europe’s main migratory routes rose 4% from the previous month to around 10 500.”
The agency added that the total for the first seven months of 2019 was “30% lower than a year ago at around 54 300.”
Frontex said that the Eastern Mediterranean remained the “busiest” route in Europe with nearly 5,800 irregular migration attempts detected last month.
