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Join on Telegram Rabat – Morocco’s Royal Navy rescued an inflatable watercraft carrying 35 sub-Saharan African migrants onboard near the port of Tan-Tan on Saturday.
The group of migrants consisted primarily of men, however, 13 women and two children were also aboard the watercraft. In addition, two of the women were pregnant.
The rescue operation commenced at 2:00 a.m Saturday morning when authorities learned that a watercraft was in danger 28 miles west of the Tan-Tan port.
The Royal Navy’s Coast Guard worked alongside a crew aboard the rescue ship Assa to administer aid to the migrants. Authorities also worked alongside a local fishing boat crew to bring the migrants ashore.
The seaport of Tan-Tan is in Morocco’s most southern region and is responsible for supplying Morocco and its trade partners with fish for consumption.
Migrants often traverse the sands of the Sahara and the waters of Morocco’s northern Mediterannean Sea. The most recent irregular migration attempt near Tan-Tan is the largest migration attempt in Morocco since the Ceuta migration event of late April 2021.
Morocco’s Royal Navy Coast Guard rescued nearly 100 sub-Saharan migrants in the Mediterannean in April but most sub-Saharan migrants travel through other North African countries like Libya and Tunisia.
Additionally, the coast guard rescued 19 sub-Saharan migrants in the north on May 29.
The Moroccan government has worked diligently to protect Moroccans and sub-Saharan African migrants alike. Moroccan security services have thwarted 14,000 irregular migration attempts since 2016, 80 of which have taken place in Ceuta.
