Rescue operation in the Atlantic
A Royal Moroccan Navy ship intervened on Monday to rescue a boat with 81 sub-Saharan migrants on board. The boat was 165 kilometers southwest of the Sahrawi city of Dakhla, heading to the Canary Islands.
The statement from the Moroccan General Staff, released by the official MAP agency, reported that the vessel was experiencing difficulties and was assisted by a military ship in maritime patrol tasks.
The weather conditions were very adverse, according to the statement, and the people on board received first aid before being transferred safely to the port of Dakhla. There, they were handed over to the Gendarmerie to carry out the immigration procedures.
Moroccan actions in the fight against irregular emigration
During last year, Morocco thwarted 75,184 irregular emigration attempts, 6% more than in 2022, and rescued 16,818 migrants at sea, 35% more than the previous year, according to the latest statistics from the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior.
Dangerous route to the Canary Islands
In recent years, the emigration route from several West African countries to the Canary Islands has become the deadliest in the world, with 6,007 deaths in 2023, an average of 18 daily. This figure almost triples that recorded in 2022, when 2,390 migrants died, according to the Caminando Fronteras count.
In 2023, arrivals by sea to the Canary Islands reached a record, with 39,910 immigrants arriving on these islands, exceeding the figure for 2006, when the archipelago experienced the so-called “cayuco crisis” and 31,678 foreigners arrived by boat.
