Taking advantage of the summer season, the networks of irregular migration and human trafficking are intensifying their operations along the northern coast of Morocco by using jet skis for crossings to Spanish cities by scattering the Moroccan coast guards thanks to the speed of these machines.
Local authorities in Sebta recently reported the arrest of several irregular migrants attempting to cross to Spanish towns on jet skis, taking advantage of the return of water recreation. This increase in irregular migration activity is partly due to improved weather conditions, which make it easier to organize these operations.
According to human rights activists, irregular migration operations mainly come from the village of Belyounech, located near the occupied presidency, thus prompting the authorities concerned to strengthen the surveillance system of the coastal border.
The same sources specify that in addition to transporting migrants, these networks of irregular migration and human trafficking also use these jet skis for drug trafficking. These experienced smugglers easily manage to avoid checkpoints, especially in the evening, and achieve their crossing objectives, generating a very large fortune for them.
For Mohamed Ben Aissa, president of the Northern Observatory of Human Rights (ONDH), the northern region of Morocco is faced with the challenge of irregular immigration, because despite the efforts made by the Moroccan and Spanish authorities to reduce this phenomenon, ” human smuggling networks are developing their mechanisms to smuggle migrants irregularly, including using jet skis“. The cost of a single migration operation to the occupied president varies between 6,000 and 7,000 euros, he said.
Ben Aissa added, in a statement to MoroccoLatestNews, that “ jet-ski passage costs between 10,000 and 13,000 euros towards southern Spain, where the popularity of this means of transport is due to its high success rate and its difficulty in being tracked by security authorities at sea because of its speed“.
According to the human rights specialist who follows this situation closely, the use of this method is encouraged by the inability of the authorities to monitor their activity during the summer season. Indeed, he continues, it is difficult to distinguish those who use jet skis for recreational purposes from those who use them for irregular migration activities. In addition, this method is relatively safe compared to other means of crossing, which attracts more and more candidates wishing to leave the territory irregularly.