Moroccan navy rescues 141 migrants bound for Canaries
The Moroccan navy rescued 141 migrants attempting the crossing from Mauritania to the Canary Islands on February 18th, according to Reuters.
The mainly sub-Saharan African migrants included three women and two children, who set sail from Mauritania on February 10th and were purportedly in distress upon their rescue by Moroccan authorities.
Spanish Interior Ministry data shows the number of migrants reaching the Canaries, having boarded vessels in West Africa, to have risen seven-fold so far in 2024, compared with the same period in 2023.
Mauritania has become a major departure point for mainly sub-Saharan Africans leaving the continent, with eight of 10 migrant vessels that reached the Canaries this January having set sail from its coast, according to Spanish authorities.
READ: Boat carrying record 280 migrants reaches Canary Islands
The Atlantic’s Canary Islands are increasingly popular with African migrants attempting to reach Europe, as European authorities have ramped up patrols in the Mediterranean in an effort to discourage the dangerous crossing from its North African coast.
Despite these increased measures, the UN Refugee Agency claims 186,000 people successfully crossed the Mediterranean in 2023, with 2,500 believed to have died attempting the voyage.
The Moroccan navy upped its efforts to tackle illegal migration at the end of 2023 and claimed to have rescued 16, 818 people at sea that year, a 35% increase compared to 2022 figures.
Recent years have also seen a mass-exodus of Moroccans from the kingdom, attempting to reach Europe. On May 17th, 2021, Reuters reported on 5,000 people swimming from Morocco’s shore, into Spain’s Ceuta enclave.
READ: Rights group accuses Morocco and Spain of Melilla cover up
Again, on June 24th, 2022, 1,700 would-be migrants attempted to storm the border fence between Morocco and Spain’s Melilla enclave, in what would become known as “The Melilla Massacre.” Excessive beatings by both Moroccan and Spanish riot-police, the ensuing stampede, and overexposure resulted in the deaths of at least 37 people, with 77 left unaccounted for.
Reuters
