The Moroccan Royal Navy Coast Guard has intercepted 257 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to Europe between last Saturday and Tuesday.

A military source in the North African country revealed this to local media that they were “on board makeshift boats, kayaks and even swimming.”

“Coast guards of the Royal Navy, on maritime patrol in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, rescued, from 9 to 12 July, 257 candidates for irregular migration, who attempted a perilous crossing on board makeshift boats, kayaks and even swimming,” the same source said.

African News said the majority of the migrants were Africans, having women and children amidst them, as well as an Afghan and a Yemeni.

The military source, however, disclosed that the Europe-bound migrants were brought “safe and sound” to land after receiving the necessary treatment.

The rescue operations brought to save them two weeks after the attempted forced crossing of nearly 2,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Melilla on 24 June.

This migration disaster caused 23 deaths among the illegal immigrants, mostly of Sudanese origin, according to the Moroccan authorities, and at least 37, according to some NGOs.

This death toll is the highest recorded to date at the borders between Morocco and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, the only European Union borders on the African continent

More than 40,000 migrants, mostly from Morocco, arrived in Spain in 2021 by sea, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

In the first five months of 2022, arrivals increased by 12% compared to 2021 but the recent regulation of diplomatic relations with Morocco has led to a decrease in recent weeks.

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