The Moroccan Navy announced that it had captured 141 people attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean, as migration from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has increased sharply since the beginning of the year.
The Royal Moroccan Army said in a statement on Sunday that it was able to rescue all the passengers on the boat off the coast of Western Sahara, a disputed area where Morocco has controlled the coastline since 1975.
The report said the 141 people, all from sub-Saharan Africa, may have set sail more than a week earlier from Mauritania, Morocco’s southern neighbor and a major departure point for migrants trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. is said to be high.
The interception was the largest Moroccan authorities have reported this year.
The Canary Islands are about 100 kilometers off Morocco’s Atlantic coast, but pirogues (wooden boats often used by migrants to cross) often depart from as far south as Gambia, where the journey can take up to 10 days. It is said that there are also. Global efforts against transnational organized crime.
Spain’s Interior Ministry reported that as of February 15, 11,704 migrants had arrived in the Canary Islands, an increase of more than six times the previous year. Most of them have left Mauritania, which recently signed a 210 million euro deal with the European Union that includes funding for migrant patrols and humanitarian aid.
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