RABAT, Sept 3, 2012 (AFP)
Rabat and Madrid are working to resolve the problem of illegal migrants, scores of whom have tried to reach Spain?s north African enclave of Melilla by swimming to nearby rocks off the coast, Moroccan officials said Monday.
?We are in contact with the Spanish government to find a solution through dialogue, and in the interests of the two countries,? a government source told AFP.
A group of 68 illegal immigrants, including three minors, arrived on Sunday at the Isla de Tierra, a tiny uninhabited Spanish island located just 30 meters (100 feet) off Morocco?s northern Mediterranean coast.
Another 19 migrants, including three minors and three pregnant women, reached the island, which is part of the Alhucemas Islands archipelago, by boat on Wednesday.
?When the Moroccan security forces apply strict controls all along the fences built by Spain around Melilla and Ceuta, the sub-Saharan migrants employ all means possible, especially trafficking, to reach the other side,? the official added.
He said that while Morocco was once simply a transit country for poor Africans trying to get to Europe, it had become a ?host country, with thousands of illegal sub-Saharan residents in the big cities like Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan.?
An official at the foreign ministry declined to comment, when asked by AFP whether Morocco would be willing to accept the return of the 68 migrants onto its territory.
Illegal immigrants frequently try to enter Spain?s north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which are both claimed by Morocco.
Spain boosted its border security at Melilla last month, raising the height of the fence separating the two sides, after hundreds of migrants attempted to enter the Spanish territory by force.
The Spanish military transported to Melilla by helicopter the three minors and three pregnant women who arrived on the island on Wednesday, leaving the remaining 13 behind.
Politicians in Madrid fear that moving migrants to mainland Spain or Melilla will encourage even more people to try to enter Spain via the archipelago.
Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/09/54231/morocco-spain-seeking-solution-to-migrant-problem-3/
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