By Morocco’s navy carried out a life-saving operation on Tuesday, rescuing close to 200 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who were found in precarious boats off the country’s southern coast, including the Western Sahara region.
This latest rescue mission brings the total number of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa brought to Morocco since August 8 to at least 518, as reported by AFP, citing information from Moroccan military sources.
The sailors discovered this group of 190 migrants in the waters between Tan-Tan and Dakhla, according to a military source cited by the state news agency MAP. Among those rescued were 11 women.
Remarkably, Spain’s Canary Islands are situated just approximately 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Morocco’s southern coast, west of Tan-Tan, which is to the northeast of Dakhla in the disputed Western Sahara. As a result, this region has witnessed increased migration activity recently.
Moroccan authorities have been actively working to thwart irregular migration attempts, reporting a staggering 26,000 such efforts in the first five months of 2023.
During the initial half of the year, Spanish interior ministry statistics indicate that 7,213 migrants successfully reached the Canary Islands by boat.
Unfortunately, tragic incidents have occurred on this migratory route. In mid-July, at least 13 Senegalese individuals lost their lives when their boat sank off the coast of Morocco, according to authorities in Senegal.
The Canary Islands migration route, a significant entry point to Europe in the Atlantic Ocean, has experienced a notable increase in activity in recent weeks, particularly stemming from the coasts of Morocco and the disputed Western Sahara territory.
Notably, NGOs consistently report fatal shipwrecks in Moroccan, Spanish, and international waters, with unofficial estimates suggesting dozens, if not hundreds, of tragic deaths.
