According to a report from the official MAP news agency on Friday, Morocco’s naval forces successfully rescued more than 60 migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa after their boat encountered difficulties in the Atlantic Ocean near Tarfaya.
“A Royal Navy unit intercepted a boat in difficulty, with 67 candidates for irregular migration” to Europe on board, some 100 kilometres north of Tarfaya, a military source said.
The Canary Islands of Spain lie approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the south of Morocco.
The individuals who were saved, including a woman and three minors, received initial medical assistance before being transported to the port of Laayoune in the contested Western Sahara on Friday for further procedures, local media reported.
Earlier this week, the naval forces apprehended over 50 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa along the southwestern coast of the nation.
The day following that incident, a military source informed media that the navy had recovered the remains of five migrants and successfully saved 189 others after their boat had overturned off the coast of Western Sahara.
During the initial five months of the year, Moroccan authorities reported the prevention of 26,000 attempts at irregular migration.
The surge in Atlantic crossings commenced in late 2019 as a response to heightened patrols along Europe’s southern coast, which significantly curtailed Mediterranean crossings.
In recent weeks, there has been a notable increase in activity along the migratory route to the Canary Islands.