Moroccan, Spanish authorities seize ‘death boats’ in the Atlantic through joint interventions

Moroccan and Spanish authorities managed to counter waves of irregular migrants in recent weeks, as the regional coast guard successfully seized several “death boats” in the coastal waters of the Canary Islands, with few deaths recorded among the clandestine migrants.

Spanish newspaper “El Pais” reported that the non-governmental relief and rescue organization in the Kingdom of Iberia had recorded less than fifty deaths among irregular migrants who died in the Atlantic waters of the Canary Islands this month.

The same publication indicated that the Moroccan and Spanish authorities have tightened border controls in the Canary Islands.

This contributed to reducing the rates of irregular migration in the region, indicating that strict control is not limited to the Canary Islands only, but includes all border areas between Madrid and Rabat.

This comes in light of the political dynamism that characterizes the diplomatic relations between the Spanish Kingdom and the Kingdom of Morocco since last year, after the signing of the joint road map between the two countries at the Royal Palace, following the reception that the Spanish Prime Minister received from King Mohammed VI.

The Iberian newspaper indicated that 15,466 irregular migrants have entered the Canary Islands since the beginning of 2022.

This is a low number compared to the previous year, when the number of illegal immigrants reached 20,603 people, according to data issued by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

The newspaper attributed the decline in the number of migrants in the Canary Islands to the great security role played by Morocco in the border areas since the return of bilateral relations to their normal level.

On the other hand, the number of irregular migrants coming from Algeria towards Spain increased due to the absence of security monitoring on the Algerian coasts since the outbreak of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries. This prompted many Iberian organizations to hold the Mouradia Palace responsible for the security chaos in the region.

Previous Spanish reports referred to Algeria’s negative position regarding security cooperation between the two countries in light of the current political tension, pointing to Algeria’s suspension of all forms of strategic cooperation regarding combating immigration and terrorism problems.