Madrid celebrates Morocco's security efforts after irregular migration to Spain decreases by 41%

Moroccan Minister of Interior Abdelouafi Laftit held a meeting today in Rabat with his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande Marlaska, to discuss controlling and managing irregular migration, discussing potential bilateral channels for returning migrants in an irregular situation to Morocco.

According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, quoted across Spanish media outlets, the meeting witnessed “Spanish praise” for the Moroccan role in the issue of combating irregular migration, as Marlaska described Morocco as “Spain’s main strategic partner in internal affairs.”

According to the same sources, “this meeting is the 13th, which shows “the excellent state of relations and our personal commitment to permanently strengthening bilateral cooperation.”

During the meeting, the Spanish minister thanked his Moroccan counterpart for “Morocco’s commitment to its efforts” in the common challenge between the countries represented by illegal immigration and in the war against human trafficking mafias.

According to the Spanish Interior Ministry’s statement, “The Spanish-Moroccan model of bilateral preventive cooperation constitutes, in Marlaska’s opinion, “the most relevant and developed example of practical cooperation known between Europe and Africa, and a key model at a time when migration pressure is increasing on the southern borders of the European Union and in Morocco.”

In this context, the same sources said, “Marlaska confirmed with his counterpart a decrease of more than 41 percent in the numbers of illegal arrivals to Ceuta and Melilla. This shows the “effort expended” in monitoring the external surroundings of the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla.”

For his part, Abdel-Wafi Laftit, Minister of the Interior, “raised the technological improvements being made in the two occupied cities, which contribute to enhancing the fluidity of the border crossings,” according to Spanish media.

Regarding the fight against terrorism, the two ministers noted that “joint activity on counter-terrorism issues during the year 2023 faced important prevention from both countries, with international support and cooperation.”

The meeting between Moroccan and Spanish government officials also presented other issues of common interest, especially in the field of civil protection. Minister Laftit stated, according to the Spanish media, that “Morocco will continue to rely on the assistance and technical capabilities of Spain, as evidenced by the assistance it provided during the earthquake that shook the country last September.”

While Grande-Marlaska praised the bilateral cooperation that allowed for the successful implementation of Operation Marhaba, which was carried out between June 15 and September 15, 2023, and ended with more than 3.2 million passengers.