Xinhuanet
Source: Xinhua
A total of 472 migrants were rescued off Morocco’s northern coast Friday night, the Moroccan navy said in a statement on Saturday.
The rescued include 28 women, 27 minors and three infants, the statement said.
The migrants were rescued after their ships got into trouble, the source added.
Morocco has become a hub for African migrants who seek to reach Europe for a better life.
Thousands of migrants are trying to flee poverty and unrest in Africa each year via Morocco to Europe, either by land into Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish ports in the Moroccan territory, or by sea to Spain or Italy, often in flimsy vessels.
According to Morocco’s Interior Ministry, security forces arrested some 50,000 migrants in 2017 and dismantled over 70 organized illegal migration networks.
