In 2024, Morocco stops 78,685 migrant attempts to enter Europe

Morocco’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday that it prevented 78,685 migrants from entering the European Union illegally in 2024, an increase of 4.6% from the previous year.

In response to inquiries from Reuters via email, the ministry stated that the numbers demonstrate “increasing migratory pressure in an unstable regional environment.”

According to the report, 58% of the migrants were from West Africa, 12% were from North Africa, which includes Morocco, and 9% were from East and Central Africa.

Unemployment, the effects of climate change on farming communities, and years of armed warfare in Africa’s Sahel area are some of the factors pushing migrants towards Europe.

Since resolving a separate diplomatic dispute in 2022, Morocco and neighboring EU member Spain have increased their cooperation against unauthorized migration.

For many years, the North African nation has served as a key starting point for African migrants who want to travel to Europe via the Atlantic, Mediterranean, or by hopping the border between the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in northern Morocco.

According to the ministry, there were 14 group attempts to enter Ceuta and Melilla last year, compared to just six in 2023.

According to the report, Moroccan officials saved 18,645 potential migrants from unfit vessels in 2024—a 10.8% increase from 2023.

According to a migrant rights organization, up to 50 migrants may have perished in the most recent fatal accident involving those attempting to cross the Atlantic from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands last month.