Morocco’s Royal Navy Rescues 63 Irregular Migrants

Rabat – Morocco’s Royal Navy rescued, on January 1, 63 irregular migrants who were attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea, Alarm Phone reported in a Tweet.

The rescue operation comes after the Alarm Phone alert on January 1 at 9:28 AM. The independent group reported on Twitter, “We were alerted to a boat with 63 people on board, including many women and children. They left from #Akhfenir in Morocco. Authorities are informed of their urgent distress close to the Moroccan coast. Act now! Don’t let them drown!!!”

In a second tweet, Alarm Phone confirmed that the migrants safely reached Moroccan shore on board Morocco’s Royal Navy vessel.

Launched on October 8, 2014, Alarm Phone is an initiative for rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean sea. The group calls for “freedom of movement for all,” and it is led by volunteers from Morocco, Europe, and Tunisia. Since its foundation, Alarm Phone has saved over “4,000 boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.”

Over the past months, Morocco’s Royal Navy has launched several operations to support and rescue irregular migrants in the Mediterranean. Their efforts reflect Morocco’s commitment to fighting against human trafficking and irregular migration in the region.

Since 2017, Moroccan authorities have disrupted over 14,000 irregular migration attempts, thwarted over 5,000 irregular migration networks, and rescued over 80,500 irregular migrants at sea.

These efforts align with Morocco’s National Strategy on Immigration and Asylum (NSIA), which is designed to control migratory flows in the Mediterranean in partnership with European partners. The strategy also seeks to meet the needs of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers on Moroccan territory.

Morocco was the first country in the MENA region to launch a migration and asylum strategy, drawing praise from many international actors.

In December 2021, the Head of Mission at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Laura Palatini, applauded Morocco’s efforts to adopt humanitarian approaches to migration management.

“Morocco is one of the few countries that sets itself up as a model for managing immigration issues and the civilized treatment of foreigners while offering them a decent life,” Palatini said.