Morocco: Coast guards of the Royal Navy reportedly rescued in the past 48 hours makeshift boats carrying 244 would-be immigrants, the majority of them of Sub-Saharan origin, a military source said. The migrants, including women and minors, are mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, as per military official reports.

They were travelling in several inflatable boats in the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates the African continent from Europe. Some of the migrants were in a poor health conditions and received the first aid from the navy units, before they were brought back to different Moroccan ports, it added. Morocco, long a transit North African country for mixed movements, has continued to gradually become a destination country for refugees and asylum-seekers. The number of refugees and asylum seekers has consistently increased over the past seven years, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

As of January 1, 2021, there were 13,533 persons of concern from 45 countries of origin registered with UNHCR Morocco, including 8,138 refugees and 5,395 asylum seekers. Refugees originate primarily from Syria (55 percent), other Middle Eastern countries (16 percent - Yemen, Iraq and Palestine) and sub-Saharan countries (25 percent - Central African Republic, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

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