Spanish PM in Morocco to Discuss Migration

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) visits his Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine el Othmani in Rabat on November 19, 2018. (AFP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) visits his Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine el Othmani in Rabat on November 19, 2018. (AFP)
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Spanish PM in Morocco to Discuss Migration

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) visits his Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine el Othmani in Rabat on November 19, 2018. (AFP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) visits his Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine el Othmani in Rabat on November 19, 2018. (AFP)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez held talks with Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine el Othmani on greater cooperation between their two countries on migration.

"Migration is a shared responsibility and we must reinforce our cooperation in this area," Sanchez said after the meeting during his first official visit to Morocco.

Othmani said Morocco was doing "all that is in its power regarding the fight against illegal immigration".

"The migration question is complex and it cannot be resolved solely through a security approach, despite its importance, it's necessary to favor the development of departure countries in Africa," he added.

Spain is one of the North African kingdom's strongest European allies, and enhanced collaboration on all levels was a focus of Sanchez's visit. It was among the topics discussed at a lunch hosted by Moroccan King Mohammed VI, the official MAP news agency said.

Spain has this year become the main entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, the majority departing from Morocco.

More than 50,000 migrants have crossed into Spain so far this year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Madrid has for months been pressing the European Union to unlock funds for Morocco to better tackle people smuggling into the bloc.

Throughout the year, numerous Spanish ministers and officials have traveled to Rabat to discuss security issues and migration.

Moroccan authorities say that between January and the end of September they stopped some 68,000 illegal attempts to cross into Europe and dismantled 122 people smuggling gangs.

While the majority of migrants have taken the perilous sea journey in rubber dinghies, others have scaled fences into the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla which border Morocco.

Morocco, along with Tunisia and Algeria, has refused to serve as an immigration reception and processing center, an idea proposed by the European Union. Morocco instead wants more EU funding to help manage migration across its borders.

Morocco is scheduled to host an international UN-sponsored conference on migration on December 10-11.



UK Police Ban Palestine Action Protest Outside Parliament

File photo: People take part in a march in support of the Palestinian people and against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in Rabat, Morocco, 22 June 2025.  EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI
File photo: People take part in a march in support of the Palestinian people and against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in Rabat, Morocco, 22 June 2025. EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI
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UK Police Ban Palestine Action Protest Outside Parliament

File photo: People take part in a march in support of the Palestinian people and against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in Rabat, Morocco, 22 June 2025.  EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI
File photo: People take part in a march in support of the Palestinian people and against Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in Rabat, Morocco, 22 June 2025. EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI

British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organization.

The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside the police exclusion zone, reported Reuters.

The pro-Palestinian organization is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza.

British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organization, putting it on a par with al-Qaeda or ISIS.

London's Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament - a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes.

"The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest," Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said.

"We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group."

Palestine Action's members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and, in the incident last week, damaged two military aircraft, Rowley added.