Over the past five years, Moroccan authorities have thwarted some 366,000 attempts to emigrate illegally to Europe. This number rose to 70,781 failed attempts in 2022 and 25,519 by the end of May 2023, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
The data also show that some 90,000 migrants have been rescued at sea over the past five years. In 2022, 12,478 migrants were rescued at sea, compared with 3,150 at the end of May 2023.
With regard to the dismantling of criminal migrant smuggling networks, the same source notes that almost 290 criminal networks were dismantled in 2022, compared with 117 at the end of May 2023, bringing the total number of such networks dismantled over the last five years to around 1,500.
On the subject of attempted assaults on Sebta and Melilia, which have been repulsed by the Moroccan authorities, Ministry of the Interior figures put the number of aborted attempts at around 100 over the last five years, involving some 17,500 assailants.
In 2022 alone, 16 attempts were made to attack the wire fences at Sebta and Melilia, compared with just one attempt in the last five months of 2023, thanks to the reinforcement of the anti-migrant measures in place, according to the same source.
Be the first to comment