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Bodies of 45 African migrants recovered off coast of Morocco

July 9, 2018 at 3:27 am

Migrants in the Mediterranean Sea as they try to reach Europe [Tamer Yazar/Twitter]

On Sunday, Moroccan authorities recovered the bodies of 45 illegal migrants carried by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Larache city, located in the North of Morocco.

An official in Tangier, northernmost of Morocco, told Anadolu Agency that, “local authorities have been notified about bodies floating off the coast of Larache city.”

The Moroccan official, who preferred not to be named, added that, “specialized authorities acted immediately upon receipt of notice, and recovered the cadavers of 45 Africans, including seven women”.

He said the victims died after their boat sank as they tried to reach the Spanish coasts, taking off from the Moroccan coasts through the Atlantic Ocean.

Refusing to open borders, separating parents and children. We have truly lost our humanity

No further details have been released in relation to the time the incident happened or whether there are any other casualties.

In its latest statistics, on July 3, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that more than one thousand people have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2018.

On June 29, EU leaders reached an agreement on the issue of immigration, which provides for the possibility of establishing migrant reception centres on the territories of EU member states on a voluntary basis, with an emphasis on fighting illegal immigration towards Europe.

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