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Rabat – Officers of Morocco’s Royal Navy managed to rescue 93 sub-Saharans attempting irregular migration in the Mediterranean during the night of Wednesday to Thursday (June 17-18).
The list of those rescued includes 15 women and several minors, a military source told Maghreb Arab Press (MAP).
Authorities transported the rescuees, who are “safe and sound,” to the Port of Nador after they received the necessary care on board Royal Navy units.
Morocco is both a transit and a destination country for migrants. The country has regularly received praise from the international community, especially from southern European states, for its approach in fighting irregular migration and human trafficking.
Police, marines, and gendarmeries have long been conducting campaigns to foil irregular migration attempts.
One of the most recent operations occurred on June 11, when police arrested four suspects for their alleged links with a criminal network active in irregular migration and fraud in Laayoune, southern Morocco.
Another operation took place on May 25 in the city of Dakhla, where police arrested 25 sub-Saharan migrants attempting to enter Morocco unlawfully.
Moroccan security services aborted 74,000 irregular migration attempts in 2019.
The director of immigration and border surveillance at the Moroccan Ministry of Interior, Khalid Zerouali, said in February that Morocco should be endowed with sufficient resources to tackle irregular migration.
The official said that Morocco considers irregular migrants the victims of trafficking networks.
“Our security action is not against migrants because we believe they are victims,” Zerouali said.
He said that Morocco’s actions are mainly targeting networks that traffic migrants.
“They exploit them and always ask for money from their families,” he said.
