Rabat – Morocco’s determination to collaborate with its international partners to fight irregular migration has borne fruit.
Spanish news outlet El Pais reported on October 17 that Spain has managed to reduce undocumented migration by half.
The news outlet cited recent data, indicating that 24,159 people arrived in Spain this year. The decrease in the number of arrivals marks the first serious decline in irregular immigration by land and sea since.
Spain has been putting irregular migration issue as one of its priorities since last year after the arrival of 64,298 people in Spain last year.
El Pais also cited an internal report from the European Commission, emphasizing that the reduction in migrants’ arrivals is due to Morocco’s ongoing efforts to stop would-be migrants from taking sea routes to Spain from its coastline.
The commission also extolled Morocco’s migration policy, stating that the “preventive efforts by Moroccan authorities continue to be effective and they are key to understanding the strong reduction in arrivals in Spain during 2019.”
The report added that Morocco’s efforts have prevented thousands of departures by land and the rescue of dozens of other migrants “who were returned to Moroccan territory”
El Pais recalled the European Union’s financial aid to Morocco to help tackle border control issues stemming from to the pressure of the flow of migrants.
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Morocco’s migratory policy takes into account “shared responsibility” as one of the key methods to tackle migration issues.
In August, the Moroccan government announced that Morocco aborted 57,000 irregular migration attempts in 2019.
Director of migration and border surveillance at Morocco’s Ministry of Interior Khalid Zerouali said in August that “border security is the responsibility of all countries, all countries must contribute to make the fight against cross-border crime an effective fight.”
Zerouali also said that the Moroccan-Spanish collaboration on migration is exemplary and a “model of cooperation between the south and the north.”
“We work with mixed maritime patrols between the Royal Gendarmerie and the Civil Guard, air and land and cooperate in the exchange of information to fight against [criminal] networks,” he said
He added that “working together creates trust” between countries.
