Migration: resumption of cooperation between Morocco and Spain

Morocco and Spain resumed their cooperation on migration issues on Thursday May 5 after two years of freeze due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then to a diplomatic crisis which has just been resolved.

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Read alsoSpain begins the return to Morocco of around 800 underage migrants in Ceuta

During a meeting of a joint commission in Rabat, discussions focused on the organization of the annual repatriation of Moroccans established in Europe from Spanish ports, after the recent resumption of maritime traffic between the two countries, the authorities said. AFP an official Moroccan source.

Interrupted since 2020, the return operation to the country of the many Moroccan nationals transiting during the summer season via Spain has been relaunched and will take place this year between June 15 and September 15.

An “excellent example of good coordination between neighboring countries”

In a statement, the Spanish Undersecretary of State for the Interior, Isabel Goicochea, described

the reactivation of this transit operation as "an

The resumption of bilateral cooperation is part of the resumption of relations between Rabat and Madrid suspended since the spring of 2021. In early April, the two capitals sealed their reconciliation after Madrid aligned itself with Rabat's position on the question of the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

"

", according to a joint press release published after the meeting of the joint commission, whose last session dated back to May 2019. On the Spanish side, some 16,000 national police and Civil Guard agents will be mobilized this summer to ensure the security of the Moroccan return operation.

On Friday, the Spanish Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, is due to attend a meeting in Rabat of the Hispano-Moroccan Permanent Group on Migration, which will discuss bilateral cooperation on the management of migratory flows.

Read alsoCeuta and Melilla: Spain extends the closure of its land borders with Morocco by 15 days

A major trading partner of Spain, Morocco is considered by Madrid to be a “

” ally in the fight against illegal immigration.

Located at the northwestern tip of Africa, Morocco is a transit country for many migrants seeking to reach Europe from its Atlantic or Mediterranean coasts.

In 2021, more than 40,000 migrants, mostly from Morocco, arrived by sea in mainland Spain as well as in the Balearic and Canary archipelagos, according to official Spanish figures.