Spain to Grant Morocco $30 Million in Aid to Combat Illegal Immigration

Morocco could benefit from a new aid from Spain to strengthen its fight against illegal immigration, indicate ministerial sources to La Vanguardia, specifying that the council of ministers of this day will deliberate on an aid of an amount of 30 million euros for the benefit of Morocco. The granting of this additional aid comes in a context of repeated attempts of massive entries of migrants into Spain via Melilla.

If this aid is approved, it would be the fourth granted to Morocco since the arrival of Pedro Sanchez at the Moncloa in 2018. The first, amounting to 32 million euros, dates back to the summer of 2019. The second, of 31 million, was granted in May 2020, in the midst of the health crisis. As for the third, worth 30 million, it was granted in May 2021, a few days after the occurrence of the migration crisis in Ceuta.

In the joint declaration of April 7, marking the beginning of the new stage of the relationship between Spain and Morocco, the two countries agreed to strengthen their migration cooperation and fight against illegal immigration in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Since then, migration flows to Spain have dropped significantly. As of October 15, 25,169 migrants have entered Spain by sea and land, a 21.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2021, according to the latest report published on Monday by the Ministry of the Interior.

The aid is intended to cover the costs of operational deployments such as patrols and surveillance of maritime borders. It will also be used to cover the maintenance costs of the equipment used by the gendarmes, and the allowances of the Moroccan police officers who participate in the operations to combat human trafficking in collaboration with their Spanish counterparts. The European Union has already promised 500 million euros in aid to Morocco for the period 2021-2027.