RABAT: The Moroccan army on Monday said it intercepted more than 1,100 migrants while trying to reach the Spanish territory of Ceuta and Melilla on New Year’s Eve.
The general staff of the armed forces said in a statement said that from Sunday to Monday, more than 1,110 people were taken into custody in the cities of Nador, M’diq and Fnideq during multiple operations jointly carried out by the army and security forces.
The army said that the 175 migrants arrested in Nador, close to the border with Melilla, were from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen. The army did not provide details about the nationalities for the other detained migrants.
Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish territories near the northern Moroccan broader, are Europe’s only land borders with the African continent and are frequently used by the migrants to reach mainland Europe.
Spain, Morocco signed agreement to boost cooperation on migration
In February last year Spain and Morocco signed an agreement to enhance cooperation on migration, while Morocco has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the EU to tackle the issue.
Another major migration route runs through Canary Islands which is used by migrants coming from Morocco and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
According to official figures from the Moroccan ministry of the interior. 32,436 migrants arrived on the islands between January 1 and November 15 last Year, a 118 percent increase on the same period in 2022.
Hundreds died last year attempting to make the perilous sea journey from as far away as Senegal.
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