Morocco

RABAT, Aug 14 (NNN-XINHUA) — Moroccan navy has rescued 130 Senegalese migrants off the Atlantic coast near Dakhla city, the official MAP news agency reported.

A Moroccan navy patrol intercepted the boat while it was sailing from the port of Fass Boye in Senegal northbound toward Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic, it added.

Also on Sunday, the Canary Islands announced that its rescue units intercepted a pneumatic boat and rescued 53 people on board off the coast of Fuerteventura.

24 July 2023; MEMO: The Moroccan Unification and Reform movement, the advocacy wing of the opposition Justice and Development Party, renewed yesterday its rejection of normalisation with Israel. "This is a path that might turn Morocco into an arena for regional and international conflicts and Israeli infiltration, in a manner threatening security and stability in the region," it explained.

20 July 2023; MEMO: Morocco's King invited Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for an official visit, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement on Wednesday, two days after Israel recognised the Kingdom's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, Reuters reports.

RABAT, Jul 19 (NNN-MAP) – The Moroccan navy rescued 854 illegal immigrants from Jul 10 to 17, off the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.

Some 400 people were rescued in the waters, off the southern Moroccan coast, while heading to Spanish Canary Islands, in the Atlantic.

The illegal immigrants, mostly from sub-Saharan countries, experienced difficulties in makeshift boats, kayaks, and jet skies. They were transferred to the nearest Moroccan ports and handed over to the competent security authorities, the report said.

RABAT, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel has decided to “recognise Morocco’s sovereignty” over the disputed Western Sahara region, the royal office in Rabat announced on Monday, citing a letter from the Israeli prime minister.

According to the letter, Benjamin Netanyahu informed Morocco’s King Mohammed VI of “the State of Israel’s decision to recognise Morocco’s sovereignty” over the mineral-rich desert region, the royal office said in a statement.

RABAT, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and the European Union are seeking continuity of fisheries partnership as the four-year fisheries protocol agreed by the two parties will soon expire.

The two sides will continue scientific cooperation with the "common objective of ensuring the sustainability" of fisheries resources in the region, read a joint statement following an assessment in Brussels of the current fisheries protocol on Thursday, the official news agency MAP reported.

25 June 2023; MEMO: Morocco said it had thwarted more than 25,000 attempts by irregular migrants to cross the Mediterranean into Europe this year, Anadolu reports.

"Moroccan authorities intercepted 25,519 irregular migration attempts and rescued 3,150 migrants in the first five months of 2023," the Interior Ministry said in a statement cited by state news agency MAP.

According to the ministry, a total of 70,781 illegal migration attempts were foiled in 2022.

24 June 2023; MEMO: Morocco will delay a summit it is hosting between Israel and Arab states that have signed "Abraham Accords" peace pacts, its Foreign Minister said on Friday, amid rising strife in the West Bank, Reuters reports.

RABAT, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Morocco will delay a summit it is hosting between Israel and Arab states that have signed “Abraham Accords” peace pacts, its foreign minister said on Friday, amid rising strife in the West Bank.

The decision to postpone the summit until after the summer comes after Israel decided to expand settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and after an Israeli raid on Jenin in which five people were killed.

21 June 2023; MEMO: Morocco has pulled out of hosting the second Negev Forum scheduled for next month, the Times of Israel reported on Tuesday. The forum includes officials from Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Egypt and the US.