Rabat – Over the past two years, 4,747 migrants who arrived in Morocco with the dream of crossing to the European Union have decided to return to their respective home countries, according to recent data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Citing a report from the Spanish newspaper EFE, the website Swissinfo reported that the “voluntary return” campaign was co-organized by the IOM and the Moroccan government, with assistance from the migrants’ origin countries.
According to the IOM, the figures of voluntary returnees relate more specifically to the year 2021 and the first ten months of this year 2022.
Notably, West and Central Africa, in particular, Guinea and Senegal, remained the top countries of origin for returnees, followed by Mali and Cameroon.
Swissinfo’s report noted that many migrants are giving up on their plans to cross to Europe as they realize that it is becoming “impossible to cross into Europe” and that it is hard to stay in Morocco because “there are few opportunities and it is hard to fit in.”
In its report about the IOM-organized campaign, EFE said that between 2021 and 2022, the UN migration body also assisted 56 Sudanese to voluntarily return to Sudan from Morocco — and 150 Sudanese are awaiting their turn to go back home.
According to the IOM, nearly 2,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea this year.
In the first five months of 2022, arrivals in Spain increased by 12% compared to 2021, but the recent normalization of diplomatic relations with Morocco has led to a marked decrease in recent weeks.
The European Union has provided its North African partner with €500 million in finance as part of efforts to reduce the influx of irregular migrants from Morocco to Europe.
And while Moroccan security services have foiled a large number of irregular migration attempts in the past weeks and months, the International Organization for Migration still lists Morocco as one of the “most often reported places of origin among all recorded arrivals to Europe.”
Read also: Irregular Migration to European Union Through Morocco Dropped by 53%
