Morocco-Spain Cooperation Leads to Sharp Drop in Gibraltar Strait Migration

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the number of migrants who crossed the strait fell from 9,766 in 2021 to 6,359 this year (January-August), a decrease of 12.9%. These figures are far from the 54,703 migrants rescued in 2018. This downward trend is "circumstantial" and an exception in a context where all migration routes are multiplying in Europe, analysts say. In contrast, the migratory flow to the Canary Islands increased by 14.9% compared to 2021, with the arrival of 10,637 migrants between January and August.

"Migrant arrivals have indeed decreased, but they have not stopped. Migrants come in dribs and drabs," said Lidia Hernández, coordinator of humanitarian action for the Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance (CEAR). They arrive from Casablanca, Kenitra or Larache on makeshift boats that can accommodate up to 50 people, or kayaks from Tangier. Most end up in minors’ centers, reports El Pais.

Nabil Kseibar embarked on August 9 with 74 other young people on a small boat. After three days at sea, he arrived in Tarifa and is currently staying in a CEAR San Roque (Cádiz) center. The young man says he paid 2,500 euros for this trip, specifying that other young people paid up to 4,000 euros. By jet ski, the crossing would surely have cost more, "up to 8,000 euros," according to Paco Cuevas, from the migrant aid association Dimbali in Jerez.

The Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) denounced at the end of August the increase in the migratory flow through the strait over the years. "More and more of them are arriving by jet ski. The pilots of these craft throw them into the sea in sight of the patrol boats," denounces Mari Carmen Villanueva, provincial secretary of the AUGC. This year, 288 migrants have already arrived on 147 jet skis, according to official data. Morocco will benefit from up to 500 million euros in aid from the European Union to strengthen its fight against illegal immigration.