Over 10,000 youths have left Morocco illegally over the past three years to reach Spain, Arab daily Akhbar Al Youm reports, citing Spanish interior ministry data.
Over 10,000 youths over the past three years have traveled to Spain from Morocco illegally, Arab daily Akhbar Al Youm reports, citing Spanish interior ministry data. Illegal migrants were a reported 250,000, including 5,000 unaccompanied minors and an unspecified number of children who evaded controls and have not been registered yet are visible on the streets, the newspaper said.
Moroccans (17%) the majority
The Spanish interior ministry said Moroccan nationals represent 17% of the new arrivals, or 9,997 people who reached the country by sea illegally from January to June this year. They were the most represented nationality in 2017 with 5,391 immigrants, followed by Algerians (5,200), Guinean (4,267) and Gambia nationals (2,845).
Akhbar Al Youm, quoting a Spanish ministry source, said the phenomenon is expected to grow and concerns the whole population.
EU accuses Rabat of using migrants as a form of pressure
The report was published just as Spain accused Morocco of using migrants as a "weapon" to put pressure for the renewal of commercial agreements with the European Union. Rabat has reportedly eased border checks - an allegation made amid the rising number of Moroccan nationals among arrivals. Minister Moustapha El Khalfi, who is in charge of relations between Parliament and civil society, however said failed attempts to leave the country illegally were 32,000 this year compared to the 65,000 registered in 2017.
El Khalifi, who is a spokesman for the government, stressed that foreigners use Morocco to reach Europe, calling for a "cooperation between all western Mediterranean countries". He urged for a "global approach" that takes into account all different aspects of the problem "because human trafficking must be fought on a juridical level and on a practical level, on the ground, to confront all challenges".