Royal Moroccan Navy rescues 190 sub-Saharan migrants in Atlantic waters

Moroccan Royal Navy units patrolling off the Atlantic coast on Tuesday rescued 190 sub-Saharan migrants from several precarious boats, including eleven women, a military source said.

The boats were intercepted off the coast of Tan Tan and Dakhla (in the south of Western Sahara).

According to the same source, those rescued were taken safely to the nearest ports after receiving the necessary medical care.

These migrants were then handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie for the necessary administrative formalities.

In recent months, the Atlantic migratory route to the Spanish Canary Islands has been reactivated with a constant trickle of small boats, as well as an increase in the number of dugout boats from Senegal.

Last Thursday, Royal Navy personnel rescued 79 Senegalese on board a dinghy off the coast of Dakhla; and seven days earlier, 67 other sub-Saharan migrants were rescued from a dinghy in difficulty off the Atlantic coast of Tarfaya (south).

On the other hand, Senegal plans to repatriate 325 of its citizens who tried to reach Spain irregularly from Morocco on Tuesday.