About: Morocco
Migrant crossings down 13% in 2020 due to Covid
The number of illegal border crossings into the European Union fell by 13% to around 124,000 last year, the EU's border agency said Friday (8 January).
Turkey bolsters influence across North Africa’s Maghreb
Turkey is boosting its influence across North Africa, analysts say, intervening militarily in war-torn Libya and using "soft power", trade and investment in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
Polisario suffers setback as EU Parliament group leader resigns over ceasefire
The campaign for Western Saharan independence has suffered another diplomatic blow after the head of the European Parliament’s group on Western Sahara resigned, accusing the pro-independence Frente Polisario of committing ‘a serious strategic error’ by ending a 30-year ceasefire with Morocco.
Morocco rebuffs EU request to re-admit third-country migrants
Morocco has rebuffed a European Union request to take back third-party nationals who reach Europe from the North African kingdom, its interior ministry said on Tuesday (15 December).
Morocco looks forward to ‘big prize’ for normalising ties with Israel
Morocco’s decision to normalise ties with Israel has handed Rabat its biggest step yet towards the prize it values most - global recognition of its claim to Western Sahara.
Borrell urges return to talks following renewed Western Sahara tensions
The Polisario Front said Sunday (15 November) it was mobilising "thousands of volunteers" to join its fighters, on the third day of a crisis in the disputed Western Sahara that pits the Sahrawis against Morocco.
Hundreds of African migrants reach Canary Islands
More than 1,600 African migrants have landed on Spain's Canary Islands over a two-day period, a rate last seen a decade ago, emergency services said Sunday.
Spain wants jobless, immigrants to cover farm shortfall
Spain moved on Tuesday (7 April) to tackle a shortfall of farm workers due to the coronavirus crisis by authorising the temporary hiring of tens of thousands of immigrants or jobless people.
Belgian MEP criticises ‘xenophobic sauce’ in discourse over coronavirus crisis
As the debate over distribution of EU funds continues in Belgium, nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and Vlaams Belang parties are consciously spreading disinformation about the coronavirus crisis and spicing it up with 'xenophobic sauce', Belgian MEP Parliament Kathleen Van Brempt (SP.A/S&D) criticised in a statement.
Morocco shuts off Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla enclaves over virus
Morocco closed the border with Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's two North African enclaves, early on Friday (13 March) to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, officials said.
Rights court clears Spain over Melilla migrant pushbacks
Spain committed no violation when it expelled migrants trying to force their way onto EU territory by scaling fences in a North African enclave, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday (13 Fenruary). The ruling, which reverses an earlier...
Morocco border clampdown thwarts Europe-bound migrants
Mustapha left his home in Guinea two years ago to make the arduous journey to Morocco, hoping to cross the fence separating the kingdom from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Police bust ring smuggling Moroccans to Spain via Gibraltar
Police in Spain and Gibraltar have smashed an unusual migrant-smuggling network which flew Moroccans into the tiny British territory then sneaked them over the border to Spain, arresting 47 people.
Spain returns migrants to Morocco after storming of Melilla enclave
Spain sent 55 migrants back to Morocco on Monday (22 October), a day after they forced their way into the Spanish territory of Melilla during an assault on the border in which two migrants died and 19 were injured.
France-Italy tensions as ministers meet on immigration
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe urged far-right Italian leader Matteo Salvini on Monday (8 October) to drop his "posturing" on immigration and help find a European response to the issue.
Sakharov Prize nominees include NGOs in the Mediterranean
The nominees for the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought have been announced on Thursday (27 September), including Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian film director imprisoned in Russia and NGOs saving lives of migrants in the Mediterranean. Since 1988, THE...
Morocco plays cat and mouse with Africans headed to Europe
African emigrants are defying a campaign by Morocco to keep them away from land and sea crossings to Spain, which has become the main entry point to Europe for migrants and refugees following crackdowns elsewhere.
Is it ‘the economy, stupid’ in the EU’s southern neighbourhood?
While trade wars threaten across the Atlantic, enhanced economic cooperation could be the key to stability in the EU’s southern neighbourhood.
Avramopoulos in Spain to announce further EU support to tackle migration
As Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos headed to Madrid, the European Commission announced Friday (3 August) further 3 million in emergency aid to support Spanish border guards in curbing irregular migration.
Sánchez backs Morocco’s call for support to stem migrant flows
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has included Morroco's pending demands of resources for border management, in a letter addressed to the European Commission requesting further emergency assistance to tackle the surge in migrant arrivals.
Over 600 migrants force entry into North African Spanish enclave
More than 600 African migrants forced their way through the heavily fortified border fence separating the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, using circular saws, shears and mallets to cut through the wire.
African leaders set up migration body, reject EU migrant ‘platforms’
African leaders have announced the creation of a new body to help coordinate national policies on migration, but rejected EU plans to set up migrant “disembarkation platforms” on their soil.
EU’s soft power to improve human rights in Morocco
Morocco has made significant progress on a number of human rights issues since the revision of its Constitution in 2011 and the creation of the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH) in 2012, but the EU must continue using its soft power to help Rabat take up other sensitive issues, writes Willy Fautré.