Royal Moroccan Navy coast guards this week intercepted 168 migrants trying to reach Spain in makeshift boats, including kayaks and jet skis, the official MAP agency said on Saturday, citing a military source. .
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Intercepted Wednesday and Thursday, the illegal immigrants, all from sub-Saharan Africa, were brought back to various ports in the north of the kingdom, and handed over to the authorities after receiving the necessary care aboard the patrol boats of the Royal Navy, according to the same source.
Barely fifteen km separate Morocco from Spain in the Strait of Gibraltar and traffickers have different means of crossing for those seeking to reach Europe.
However, the arrivals of migrants on the Spanish coasts by the so-called “western” route globally fell by half over the first eight months of 2020, with 8,200 illegal entries recorded, according to the Frontex agency.
Algerians represent two thirds of arrivals this year, Moroccans are the second nationality represented, according to the same source.
Perverse effect of the European agreements with Turkey, Libya or Morocco to control the borders in the Mediterranean: the Canaries, a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean located a hundred kilometers from the African coast, have once again become a gateway of choice in Europe, as they had been from 2006 to 2008.
The arrivals of clandestine migrants there have been almost multiplied by seven since the beginning of the year compared to the same period of 2019, reaching 3,933 from January 1 to August 31, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.