NGO: 5 missing as migrant boat capsizes off Morocco

Five sub-Saharan migrants, including a child, are thought to have drowned when their boat capsized off Morocco's north coast as it tried to reach the Spanish enclave of Melilla, a rights group said Wednesday. Seventeen illegal migrants were on board the small boat that attempted to reach Melilla on Tuesday from the nearby town of Nador, on Morocco's Mediterranean coast, the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) said, citing one of the migrants. The boat capsized around one kilometre (less than a mile) before it reached its destination and five people died or remain unaccounted for, including a child under five years old and three women, said AMDH's Hassan Ammari, citing the same source. Illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa regularly attempt to cross from Morocco into the tiny north African enclave, held by Spain for centuries but considered occupied by Rabat, in a bid to reach mainland Europe. The Moroccan authorities have tightened immigration policy in recent months, sending hundreds of sub-Saharans out of the country since early September, and cooperating with Madrid to evict a group that swum to a tiny Spanish islet just off the coast last month. North African and European leaders agreed in Malta last week to set up an immigration task force following the Arab Spring uprisings, which have seen a sharp rise in the number of people making risky boat crossings to seek a new life in Europe. This year alone, hundreds of illegal migrants have disappeared at sea. From: Ahram Online