Two Moroccan non-governmental organizations have issued a joint appeal for immediate action from national and international authorities to locate a boat carrying 44 migrants that disappeared off the coast of Dakhla.
The missing individuals include 27 Moroccans (among them three women and two children aged 11 and 14) and 17 sub-Saharan Africans.
The Moroccan Association for Aid to Migrants in Difficult Situations (Oujda) and the Moroccan Organization for Migration and Support for Migrants (Agadir) reported in a joint statement Tuesday that the boat departed from Wadi Lakraa, near Dakhla, in the early morning of September 24, 2025, heading toward the Canary Islands. Families, primarily from Casablanca and Midelt, have had no contact with their loved ones since the departure.
The associations also noted that a second boat carrying 51 migrants, which left the Atlantic coast on October 13, was found near Tan-Tan after eight days at sea. While the survivors were taken into care, one deceased victim, believed to be a sub-Saharan migrant, was recovered.
The signatory NGOs are urging Moroccan diplomacy, the Royal Navy, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), and Spanish Maritime Rescue Services to urgently intervene and determine the fate of the 44 missing persons.
Furthermore, they are demanding that the Office of the Public Prosecutor launch a rigorous and transparent investigation to prosecute human trafficking networks responsible for these repeated tragedies. The statement calls for justice for the families, who are described as “living every day in distress and expectation,” and demands that they receive necessary psychological and social support.
MK/Sf/fss/abj/APA