In total, authorities say they stopped 78,685 attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea last year. Some migrants try to cross the Mediterranean several times, so this does not necessarily equate to the number of people who tried to cross.

The Interior Ministry added that 58 percent of the intercepted migrants had originated from West Africa, 12 percent from North Africa (including Morocco), and nine percent from East and Central Africa.

The ministry told the Reuters news agency that the 4.6 percent rise in interceptions compared to 2023 showed the "growing migratory pressure in an unstable regional environment."

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More attempts to reach EU from Sahel countries

The high number of West African migrants, many from the ten countries in the Sahel (the UN defines Sahel countries as Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria) stopped on Morocco's shores can be partly explained by years of armed conflict, often involving violent Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State (IS) that has scarred much of the region.

Several governments in the Sahel meanwhile have been taken over by military juntas, creating an atmosphere of fear among opposition members, with increasing reports of persecution.

Meanwhile, the impact of global warming is also increasingly cited as a chief reason for people seeking to leave their home countries and head towards Europe — especially those from farming communities who are suffering the effects of prolonged droughts.

Spain at the forefront of increase in arrivals

EU member Spain relies heavily on its border cooperation with Morocco, which has been beefed up since 2023. Most migrants departing from Moroccan shores head directly to Spanish territory, in most cases crossing the Atlantic to the Spanish archipelago, the Canary Islands.

The sea route is considered to be particularly dangerous; in a recent boat tragedy in January, as many as 50 migrants are believed to have died while trying to make it to the Canaries. Last December, 70 people went missing and are presumed dead in a similar tragedy.

Moroccan authorities said that of the nearly 80,000 people intercepted last year, 18,645 were migrants who were saved from unseaworthy boats, marking a rise in rescues of almost 11 percent from 2023.

Few also try to reach Europe via the Western Mediterranean, aiming for the southern coast of Spain.

However, the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco also continue to draw irregular migrants, some migrants attempt to scale the fortified border fences, and others endeavor to swim round by sea.

In 2024, there were 14 attempts by larger groups to get into Ceuta and Melilla via the border fences — more than twice the number from the previous year.

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with Reuters