Morocco’s Civil Protection Rescues Over 150,000 Migrants at Sea in 2019

Between January and August 2019, the Civil Protection carried out 270,000 interventions throughout the kingdom, on land and at sea, according to the ministry’s report, which indicates that rescue operations for migrants are at the top with 153,000 cases, followed far behind by traffic accidents (90,000 cases) and fires (12,000 cases).

In total, 63 bodies were recovered at sea between January and August 2019, while 14,672 Moroccans were rescued from drowning and 12 are still missing.

By region, it is Casablanca-Settat that comes first with 17% of the Civil Protection’s interventions, followed by Fès-Meknès. The Rabat region ranks 3rd with more than 39,000 interventions in 9 months, just ahead of the Oriental region which recorded 36,000 interventions.

In addition, the Ministry of the Interior announced the revitalization of the civil protection structures in order to enable it to respond more effectively to its multiple interventions. To this end, the report adds that the financial resources of the Civil Protection will be revalued, especially since its operating budget has not increased since 2010.