RABAT, Morocco: Morocco’s border security chief says the North African kingdom is using new tactics to cut into the surge of migrants seeking to reach Europe, stopping about 25,000 attempts to reach Spain so far this year.
Khalid Zerouali says this amounts to about 30 percent more failed bids to cross to Spain, mainly via the Strait of Gibraltar, compared with the same period last year.
Speaking to The Associated Press on Thursday, Zerouali attributed the decrease in crossings to new surveillance technology and reinforced manpower, as well as action against human traffickers.
The number of migrants arriving in Spain last year was about 60,000, eclipsing the figures for Italy and Greece. Almost all arrived by sea.
Despite EU aid and cooperation, Zerouali mainly credited his own country with making a dent in migrant crossings.
Morocco says it’s cutting illegal migrant crossings to Spain
Morocco says it’s cutting illegal migrant crossings to Spain
- Zerouali attributed the decrease in crossings to new surveillance technology and reinforced manpower
- The number of migrants arriving in Spain last year was about 60,000
Israeli fire kills two in Gaza as truce deal moves to next phase
- Medics said two men were killed by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis
- The two sides have traded blame over the truce violations
CAIRO: Israeli fire killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, health officials said, in the latest violence rattling a fragile ceasefire as Hamas and Israel looked to implement the second phase of the US-brokered Gaza peace plan.
Medics said two men were killed by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis, in an area adjacent to where the army operates. The Israeli military told Reuters it wasn’t aware of any casualties as a result of Israeli fire on Thursday.
The Gaza health ministry said Israeli airstrikes, tank shelling and gunfire have killed at least 490 people since the truce took effect in October after two years of war that widely demolished the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said four soldiers have been killed by Palestinian militants in the small coastal territory over the same period.
The two sides have traded blame over the truce violations.
By advancing to phase two, the US and mediator partners Egypt and Qatar must confront the more contentious issue of Hamas disarmament, which the group has long rejected. The plan also calls for deploying an international peacekeeping force.
