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Rabat – The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid warns of a potential massive influx of boats in the coming months coming from Morocco, loaded with migrants and refugees, and heading to Spain.
The commission, which collaborates with Morocco-based migrant support groups, believes that no less than half a million people, from Libya westward to Morocco, are preparing a migratory movement towards Europe, reported Spain’s premier radio network, Cadena SER. A vast majority of these migrants are from sub-Saharan nations in Africa.
According to José Carlos Cabrera, spokesman for the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid, all indicators point to a large influx of small boats towards Europe in the coming months, including many from Morocco’s Mediterranean coastline across from mainland Spain.
The NGO warns that Spain is not currently prepared to receive and adequately deal with this level of human migration, added Cadena SER.
Last month alone, 1104 illegal migrants attempted to enter Spain, according to the North Observatory of Human Rights (ONDH).
The number of migrants using the sea route from Morocco to Spain has more than tripled between 2016-1017.
Approximately 3,300 refugees crossed to Europe from Morocco in the first four months of 2017 compared to about a thousand in the same period in 2016.
These numbers are expected to continue rising. “The flows arriving from Maghreb countries to Spain are very likely to increase in 2018,” the director of Europe’s border agency, Fabrice Leggeri told Reuters, adding that the flows were boosted by the use of fast boats capable of transporting large numbers of migrants.
