The Moroccan DGSN is closing in on illegal immigration networks in the north of Morocco
The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), which directs the national police in Morocco, carried out a raid against illegal immigration networks in the city of Tangier, near the autonomous city of Ceuta.
According to a statement from the DGSN, 25 people of sub-Saharan origin were arrested when they were getting off a bus together in Tangier, carrying with them a large quantity of sharp objects and iron hooks identified as tools used in fence-jumping. Up to 36 of these objects have been confiscated by the Moroccan authorities. They are similar to those confiscated during the last fence jump that ended in tragedy when more than 2,000 people tried to enter Spain illegally.
The DGSN communiqué speaks of the 25 detainees as "candidates for illegal immigration". According to the Moroccan authority, none of the detainees were in possession of identity or travel documents. According to the Moroccan authority, the 25 people are illegally residing in the country.
According to the pro-government MAP news agency, the detainees are under judicial investigation by the competent public prosecutor's office to clarify the circumstances in which these 25 people of sub-Saharan origin were arrested. The DGSN accuses them of "organising collective illegal immigration attempts", according to information provided by the Moroccan police authority.
The arrest coincided the day before with the visit of the Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who accompanied the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, to a meeting with the Moroccan Interior Minister, Abdelouafi Laftit.
After the meeting, the three parties agreed to strengthen joint cooperation on their shared land and maritime borders in the future, in order to avoid situations such as those that occurred in Nador on 24 June. According to the Spanish Interior Ministry's communiqué, the agreement could mean a greater presence of the European border agency, Frontex, on Spain's borders with Morocco.
The three interior ministers agreed that it is necessary to renew and promote these new agreements in order to combat irregular immigration. Ylva Johansson said that collaboration with Morocco is key to putting an end to human trafficking in the Mediterranean. She valued the role of the Kingdom of Morocco as that of "a key partner". Furthermore, the Commissioner made it known that these meetings help to give strength to her project for a new Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The three officials pointed to immigrant smuggling mafias as the main culprits in the Nador tragedy, which ended with a terrible toll of at least 23 deaths among the migrants, although human rights associations have a higher death toll.
According to police sources and expert analysts consulted by Atalayar, the reinforcement of material and human resources at the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla is essential to fight illegal immigration, but the fence is not the definitive solution.
According to Interior Ministry sources, since the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco in April, the harmony between Rabat and Madrid has had immediate and visible effects on the willingness of Moroccan law enforcement agencies to collaborate with Spain in controlling immigration.