Members of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) in charge of coastal surveillance intercepted a pirogue trying to reach the Canary Islands with 104 sub-Saharan migrants on board, including 90 Malians, 7 Mauritanians, 3 Senegalese, 2 Ivorians and 2 Guineans, according to a press release issued by the FAR on Friday.
They were stopped 10 km south of Dakhla, the statement said.
The rescued migrants received the necessary care before being handed over to the royal gendarmerie for the usual administrative procedures.
In 2023, units of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, in collaboration with the forces of law and order, managed to intercept around 87,000 candidates for irregular migration, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa.
These operations are part of border and maritime surveillance and the fight against transnational threats.
During the same period, intensified surveillance and control operations in waters under national jurisdiction resulted in the rescue and assistance of more than 22,000 candidates for irregular migration, often on-board precarious boats in distress.
HA/lb/as/APA