In 2019, Moroccan security services foiled 74,000 irregular migration attempts.
Rabat – Morocco’s Royal Navy has foiled an irregular migration attempt of 107 undocumented migrants. The migration attempt took place on the night of Sunday, July 19 to Monday, July 20, aboard small inflatable boats.
The migrants attempted to cross the Mediterranean, departing from Morocco’s northern coast.
The list of apprehended migrants includes 13 women and four minors. All the migrants have Asian and sub-Saharan African origins, according to an undisclosed military source cited by Morocco’s press agency.
Following the interception, the Royal Navy provided the undocumented migrants with the necessary first aid, before transferring them to the ports of Tangier and Nador.
All the migrants were “safe and sound,” Maghreb Arab Press reported.
The summer season is known for an increased number of irregular migration attempts from Morocco, mainly due to favorable weather conditions.
In recent weeks, Moroccan authorities thwarted several attempts, both in the Mediterranean and along Morocco’s Atlantic coast.
On July 13, members of the Royal Navy and the Royal Gendarmerie apprehended 32 sub-Saharan migrants in Dakhla, southern Morocco. The list of migrants included 17 women and a newborn.
The group intended to venture into the Atlantic Ocean and cross the Spanish Canary Islands using a small fishing boat.
Another operation on June 19 led to the apprehension of 23 undocumented migrants who planned to cross the Mediterranean to reach European shores.
Moroccan security services lead regular operations to combat irregular migration and human trafficking. In 2019, authorities foiled more than 74,000 irregular migration attempts.
According to the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), 2019 saw the arrest of 505 organizers of irregular migration operations, involved in 62 human trafficking networks.
Security services also apprehended 27,317 would-be irregular migrants in 2019, including 20,141 of foreign nationalities. Moroccans represented 26% of the people arrested for attempting to migrate irregularly.
