Morocco Has Aborted 40,000 Irregular Migration Attempts to Europe

Rabat – Morocco thwarted more than 40,000 irregular migration attempts to Europe by the end of July 2022, reflecting its commitment to migration management, a senior Moroccan official has said.

Khalid Zerouali, the Director of Immigration and Border Surveillance at the Moroccan Institute of Strategic Studies (IRES), said in an interview this week with the Spanish news agency EFE that Moroccan security forces aborted around 40,600 attempts to emigrate to Europe in the first seven first months of this year.

In particular, Zerouali revealed that attempts to irregularly enter Europe through Morocco rose by 11% at the end of July, compared to the same period in 2021.

Morocco’s border patrol authorities made nearly 7,000 arrests of migrants attempting to cross the Moroccan borders to Europe in the first seven months of the current year, and dismantled 124 smuggling networks during the same period, Zerouali explained.

These numbers are a statement to Morocco’s efforts to thwart irregular migration attempts, the IRES director argued, noting that recent statistics “show the conclusive results” of Morocco’s commitment in terms of migration management.

He added, however, that “the fact that there is a decrease in arrivals on the Spanish coast does not mean that the pressure has decreased here – in Morocco.”

In addition to Morocco’s ground-level operation to fight irregular migration, the country is active on the regional and international levels in sharing its successful experience in the fight against irregular migration, the director underscored.

He said: “Morocco is a state that lives up to its duties, it has always shown its readiness in all regional and international spheres to share its experience with friendly countries.”

The IRES chief further stressed that Morocco “does not instrumentalize anything for political reasons,” and that to accuse the North African country of this “is unfounded.”

Morocco has a long-standing border control deal with the European Union. Last month, the EU pledged €500 million in financial aid to assist the North African country with migration management efforts.