Hommam Al Nassim 
The Moroccan navy says 118 irregular migrants have been rescued off the country’s Atlantic coast.
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (Army) said on its Facebook account that a Royal Navy unit was able, on Sunday morning, to rescue 118 irregular migrants, including 9 women and 3 minors.
These migrants “were on board two boats west of the city of Tarfaya” (in the Sahara region) in the southwest of the country,” he said, without clarifying whether the boat was in a dangerous situation at the time and at risk of sinking.
According to the Moroccan military, 114 of these migrants are from sub-Saharan African countries, and the other four are from Bangladesh.
The statement did not mention where the migrants’ boat set off, nor their state of health, but pointed out that they received first aid, before being handed over to the services of the Royal Gendarmerie (military force) in order to carry out the administrative procedures in force.
The procedures concern the referral of migrants to centers for temporary accommodation, deportation to their countries of origin or provision by non-governmental organizations to accommodate them and help them find employment.
On January 23, the Ministry of Interior announced that it had thwarted 75,184 irregular immigration attempts during 2023, an increase of 6% compared to 2022.
The ministry said at the time in a statement that “more than 419 human trafficking networks were dismantled during the past year (2023), an increase of 44% compared to 2022.”
Increasing Military Tension Between Morocco and Algeria Raises Concerns in Spain