Morocco denies death of illegal African migrants

By Khalid Mejdoub

RABAT (AA) – Morocco’s Interior Ministry on Monday denied reports about extracting the bodies of 45 African migrants, who were reported to have drowned off the country’s coast.

Media reports earlier said that 45 migrants from Sub-Saharan African countries had drowned on Sunday after their boat sank off Morocco’s northern coast.

Local authorities in the provinces of Tangier, Tetouan and Al-Hoceima have also denied in a statement reports about the death of illegal migrants off the country’s coast.

According to the statement, a boat carrying 33 illegal migrants had drifted off the coast of Larache town, but the migrants were all rescued.

Morocco has become a hub for African migrants seeking to reach Europe for a better life. Thousands of migrants are trying to flee poverty and unrest in Africa each year via Morocco to Europe.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 1,000 illegal migrants have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2018.