Migrants’ arrivals in Spain drop by 52% in April thanks to Cooperation with Morocco

The number of irregular migrants reaching Spain has dropped by 52% in April, compared with the same month last year, reported Spanish daily newspaper ABC, pointing out that this notable decrease was made possible thanks to cooperation with Morocco and the North African Kingdom’s efforts to foil migration operations and dismantle illegal migration networks.

Moroccan-Spanish cooperation has been successful in tackling the issue, ABC quoted a source at the Spanish Ministry of the Interior as saying.

Citing data from the International Organization for Migration, the newspaper reported that 820 illegal migrants arrived in Spain in April 2019, compared to 1,706 in April 2018.
The significant decline is mainly due to Morocco’s success in dismantling irregular migration networks and the security cooperation and information exchange between Morocco and Spain, the Spanish ministerial source told the paper.

The newspaper highlighted Morocco’s “positive role” in “alleviating the migratory pressure,” noting that the North African country is itself under enormous migratory pressure as a transit country, where thousands of sub-Saharan migrants settled awaiting an opportunity to reach Europe.

The downward trend in migrants’ arrivals has been observed since the beginning of 2019, the paper noted.