Morocco: More Than 12,000 Illegal Migrants Held in 2021

A Spanish soldier helps a migrant after his arrival at a beach in the Ceuta enclave, in the north of Morocco, on Sunday (EPA)
A Spanish soldier helps a migrant after his arrival at a beach in the Ceuta enclave, in the north of Morocco, on Sunday (EPA)
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Morocco: More Than 12,000 Illegal Migrants Held in 2021

A Spanish soldier helps a migrant after his arrival at a beach in the Ceuta enclave, in the north of Morocco, on Sunday (EPA)
A Spanish soldier helps a migrant after his arrival at a beach in the Ceuta enclave, in the north of Morocco, on Sunday (EPA)

Moroccan police said Monday they had arrested more than 12,000 people trying to leave the country illegally since the start of the year and had also dismantled 150 smuggling networks.

In a statement carried by the official MAP agency, the Directorate General of National Security said it had detained "415 organizers and mediators and 12,231 candidates for illegal immigration" and dismantled "150 criminal networks active in organizing illegal immigration".

Mainland Spain is only about 20 kilometers from Morocco, making it a target for those fleeing poverty or conflicts elsewhere in Africa or even further afield.

Officers also seized "752 forged travel documents, 67 inflatable boats and 47 engines, and 65 vehicles", AFP quoted MAP as saying.

The year's figures relate only to police operations, and do not include naval interceptions of migrants headed to Spain.

A military source said the Moroccan coastguard aided around 330 migrants between November 12 and 15 in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

At the end of September, the UN's International Organization for Migration said 2021 had been "the deadliest year on the migratory route to Spain", with more than 1,000 fatalities.

Other North African countries, Tunisia and Libya, are also major migrant departure points to Europe.



Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria Reaches Deal to Integrate SDF within State Institutions, Presidency Says

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shaking the hand of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi after the signing of an agreement, to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 10, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

The Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, has signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday.

The deal, which included a complete cessation of hostilities, was signed by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the SDF's commander, Mazloum Abdi.

Under the deal, whose text was posted online by the presidency, all civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria will be integrated within the state, which will thus take over control of borders, airports and oil and gas fields.

The SDF agrees to support the government in combating remnants of deposed president Bashar al-Assad's regime, and any threats to Syria's security and unity.

Since Assad was overthrown by Sharaa's Islamist forces in December, groups backed by Türkiye, one of Sharaa's main supporters, have clashed with the SDF, the main ally in a US coalition against ISIS militants in Syria.

The SDF is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Türkiye regards the PKK, YPG and SDF as terrorist groups, and Sharaa's new Damascus administration had been pressing the SDF to merge into newly-minted state security forces.

Abdi had previously expressed a willingness for his forces to be part of the new defense ministry, but said they should join as a bloc rather than individuals, an idea that was rejected by the new government.

The US and Türkiye’s Western allies list the PKK as a terrorist group, but not the YPG or the SDF.