Morocco, Gabon police cooperate to fight illegal migration

Morocco and Gabon have signed an agreement for cooperation between their police in fighting illegal migration and trans-border organized crime and training, the official radio reported on Thursday. The agreement establishes security cooperation in fighting against illegal migration and trans-border organized crime. It arranges trainings and consolidates the legal framework regulating cooperation between the two African countries. It was signed by Morocco's delegate-Minister for the Interior Charki Draiss and Gabonese Minister of Interior, Public Security, Immigration and Decentralization Jean Fran ois Ndongou who is on official visit to Morocco. Last March, the two countries signed a previous agreement related to consolidation of cooperation in civil rescue, on the sidelines of the visit to Gabon of Moroccan King Mohammed VI. The latest agreement comes as Morocco is trying to re-fashion its immigration policies. In early November, the kingdom announced a campaign to regularize the stay of and resolve the status of the estimated 40,000 illegal migrants residing on its territory, many of whom came to the North African country with the hopes of reaching Europe. Thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and political unrest in Africa try to enter Europe each year via Morocco, either by land into Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish ports in the Moroccan territory, or by sea to Spain or Italy, often in flimsy vessels. In October, local news outlets reported that Moroccan coast guards thwarted the efforts of more than 50 migrants to swim to Ceuta. Over six similar attempts were thwarted by the coast guards in October, leading to the arrest of over 100 migrants that month.