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Units responsible for border surveillance, stationed in Nador, M’diq, and Fnideq, conducted a series of interception and removal operations on New Year’s Eve.
Reports from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces indicate that in Nador alone, 175 individuals from different countries including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen, were apprehended while attempting irregular migration.
In addition, joint operations conducted across these cities led to the detention of an additional 935 individuals attempting to illegally cross from Morocco to Spain.
The operation came one day after another major interception of migrants. On December 31, Morocco’s Royal Navy thwarted an attempted migration of 44 Sub-Saharan individuals, including two minors, to Europe.
The armed forces intercepted the migrants 90 kilometers from the military port of Dakhla, as they were attempting to reach the Canary Islands.
The interception involved a canoe, which the migrants used in their attempt, according to a statement released by the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces.
Upon interception, the rescued individuals received necessary medical attention before being transported to Dakhla.
According to the EU’s Frontex border and coast guard agency, the first half of 2023 saw a substantial increase in unauthorized attempts to enter the EU.
Frontex reported 132,370 irregular attempts to enter the EU outside established borders from January to June, a 10% rise compared to the same period in 2022.
Crossings in the central Mediterranean have especially spiked by over a third, with arrivals from Tunisia to Italy accounting for half of the overall numbers.
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