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Join on Telegram Denver – A Moroccan naval patrol on Sunday recovered 58 irregular migrants from the Atlantic ocean.
According to the report, the migrants were headed towards the Canary Islands via a small inflatable boat. The Canary islands are located over 200 miles west of the Moroccan city of Laayoune. Officials from Morocco’s Royal Navy reported they were able to locate and secure the inflatable boat, rescuing the migrants on board.
The Royal Navy reported all the migrants as being from sub-Saharan Africa. Laayoune is a popular transit point for sub-Saharan irregular migrants due to its relative proximity to the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands, as well as its comparative lack of traffic compared to the strait of Gibraltar.
Morocco’s navy recently announced it would be stepping up patrol operations near Laayoune, in an attempt to curb irregular migration attempts in the region. Many of the migrants recovered from the trip are often found drifting at sea, in desperate need of assistance.
Human trafficking has also been a lingering issue in southwestern Morocco. Authorities regularly disrupt trafficking networks attempting to smuggle humans across the ocean into the Canary islands.
In July 2020, police arrested many suspects for their connections with trafficking networks in Laayoune. The arrestees were involved in shipping migrants and narcotics across the ocean into Spanish territory.
Earlier this month, Moroccan authorities reported 75 migrants had died while attempting to reach Europe from Laayoune. Within the same week, authorities reported 42 migrants were killed when their boat capsized. According to naval reports, the 42 migrants were found off the coast of Dakhla, just 330 miles south of Laayoune.
