Melilla sees lowest migration numbers in decades, new data reveals

Melilla witnessed a significant decline in the number of irregular migrants who managed to enter in 2024 compared to 2023.

Only 113 migrants arrived in the city from the beginning to the end of 2024, compared to 340 the previous year. This marks one of the lowest entry rates since migration began in Melilla in the early 1990s, according to official data obtained by Europa Press.

The authorities recorded the arrival of 21 migrants by sea to Melilla’s shores in 2024, reflecting an 88.3% decrease compared to 2023, when 180 migrants were reported to have arrived by sea.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants who entered Melilla by land also saw a sharp decline, falling from 160 in 2023 to 92 in 2024, a decrease of 42.5%.

These low figures are considered rare for Melilla, which has witnessed large flows of irregular migrants for many years, especially since the late 1980s and early 1990s, when tmigration toward the city started to increase significantly.

One of the most tragic events associated with irregular entry attempts occurred on June 24, 2022, when between 1,500 and 2,000 migrants, mostly from Sudan, tried to storm the border between Morocco and Melilla.

Although around 150 succeeded in crossing, the attempt resulted in the deaths of 24 people on the Moroccan side of the border, according to Moroccan official sources.