Denver – Military officials reported Morocco’s Royal Navy rescued over 300 migrants this week in rescue operations spanning from Saturday to Monday.
The navy worked in conjunction with coastal radar stations and surveillance teams to locate the migrants at sea. According to reports, the majority of the migrants were sub-Saharan Africans, with 23 women and 9 minors among the rescued group.
Naval forces found the migrants aboard makeshift kayaks, inflatable boats, and jet skis attempting to make the dangerous ocean voyage. After being retrieved, the migrants were given medical evaluations before being transferred to various Moroccan ports.
Although the large flow of irregular migrants that occurred this summer has significantly diminished, Morocco’s navy still conducts regular patrols along the country’s coastline to aid those that choose to make the perilous journey.
Morocco remains one of the most popular crossing points from Africa to Europe due to its geographical proximity. Although some migrants successfully make the journey in makeshift watercraft, many perish in the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean. According to data from the Missing Migrants Project, 22,748 migrants have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.
Morocco’s navy has salvaged the remains of several migrant bodies this year alone, due to the swell in irregular migration attempts. A significant number of these fatalities have occurred on an increasingly popular migratory route from Western Sahara to the Canary Islands.
Due to steady patrols from both Moroccan and Spanish authorities along the strait of Gibraltar, migrants have instead chosen to take the less monitored route in the west. However, the makeshift boats, often overloaded by human traffickers seeking to increase their profit margin, often capsize in the rough waters of the Atlantic coast. Despite this inherent risk, migrants still continue to undertake the journey in hopes of reaching Spanish territory, posing a continuing challenge for authorities in the region.
