The Moroccan authorities have thwarted some 366,000 attempts at irregular emigration to Europe over the past five years. This number rises to 70,781 aborted attempts in 2022 and 25,519 at the end of May 2023, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
These data also show that rescue at sea has involved around 90,000 migrants over the past five years. In 2022, 12,478 migrants were rescued off the sea, compared to 3,150 at the end of May 2023.
Regarding the dismantling of criminal migrant smuggling networks, the same source notes that nearly 290 criminal networks were dismantled in 2022, compared to 117 at the end of May 2023, which brings the total number of these dismantled networks to around 1,500 over the five last years.
Regarding the assault attempts against Sebta and Melilia, repelled by the Moroccan authorities, the data of the Ministry of the Interior show about a hundred aborted attempts during the last five years, involving approximately 17,500 assailants.
For the year 2022 alone, these assault attempts repelled on the chain-link fences of Sebta and Melilia were 16 in number against a single attempt during the last five months of 2023, thanks to the strengthening of the system to fight against irregular migration. , says the same source.