Morocco Intensifies Efforts Against Migrant Crossings into EU

In 2024, Morocco prevented 78,685 migrants from illegal crossing into the EU, marking a 4.6% increase from the previous year. The majority hailed from West Africa, driven by conflict, unemployment, and climate change impacts. Cooperation with Spain has increased, focusing on migration through the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes.

Morocco reported intercepting 78,685 migrants attempting unauthorized entry into the European Union in 2024, a 4.6% rise compared to 2023, the country's Interior Ministry announced on Thursday. The data underscores increasing migratory pressures within an unstable regional context, according to the ministry's statement in response to Reuters' inquiry.

Of the intercepted migrants, 58% originated from West Africa, 12% from North Africa where Morocco is situated, and 9% from East and Central Africa. Various factors such as ongoing conflicts in Africa's Sahel region, high unemployment rates, and climate change effects on agriculture are propelling these migration trends towards Europe.

Morocco and Spain, an EU member, have bolstered their anti-migration efforts following a reconciliation over a prior diplomatic dispute in 2022. Morocco serves as a prevalent departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe via Mediterranean crossings, the Atlantic, or by scaling the barriers of the Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla. Last year saw 14 group crossing attempts into Ceuta and Melilla, down from six in 2023, as Moroccan authorities saved 18,645 migrants from unsafe vessels in 2024, an increase of 10.8% from the previous year.

Tragedy struck last month when up to 50 migrants are believed to have drowned while attempting the perilous journey across the Atlantic to Spain's Canary Islands, as reported by a migrant rights organization.

(With inputs from agencies.)