ABC NEWS
The Latest on the influx of migrants into Europe (all times local):
Morocco’s government says it has stopped 68,000 illegal migration attempts and dismantled 122 human trafficking networks since 2002.
As Morocco faces increasing numbers of migrants from around Africa attempting to cross to Europe from its coasts, government minister Noureddine Boutayeb announced the figures at an African security conference Thursday.
He also said Morocco has stopped 2,000 migrant boats from making the crossing since 2002. He did not give a breakdown per year.
Morocco is hosting a major U.N. migration conference next month and is seeking to showcase its security record.
Boutayeb said security services have dismantled 185 terrorist networks and arrested more than 3,000 terrorist suspects over the same period. Earlier this month, Moroccan authorities arrested two alleged supporters of the Islamic State group suspected of preparing attacks, according to the Interior Ministry.
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11:45 a.m.
French maritime authorities say 18 migrants have been pulled from boats in the English Channel as they tried to illegally reach British shores.
The regional maritime service said in a statement Thursday that a helicopter and rescue ships saved 11 migrants overnight whose boat was in distress off the coast of the French town of Wimereux. Four migrants were hospitalized with hypothermia and the others handed over to border police in Calais.
The statement says a patrol ship discovered another boat carrying seven migrants and alerted British authorities who intercepted it near the British coast.
Authorities shut down a sprawling migrant slum in Calais in 2016, but migrants continue to cluster there. Most try to sneak to Britain on trucks traveling n ferries or in the tunnel under the Channel.
