The two Moroccan men who escaped from a parked Turkish Airlines aircraft on New Year’s Day have been identified as Fouad el Sellah, 26, and Mohamed Lazaar, 43.

The pair were part of a group of five Moroccan passengers who boarded the flight in Istanbul and conspired to have the Marrakesh-bound aircraft diverted to Malta by staging a false medical emergency.

As arrangements to disembark the purportedly sick passenger were underway, four men opened the aircraft’s rear door, jumped onto the apron and evaded capture by scrambling over the airport’s perimeter fence.

Two of them were captured hours later and returned to their home country together with the person who had complained about the malaise in the first place.

But the search for the remaining two runaways, el Sellah and Lazaar, has so far failed to make headway. Police released photos of the pair on Thursday afternoon, calling on the public’s help in locating the two men.

With traditional irregular migration routes becoming ever more perilous, migration experts warn that similar attempts to enter Schengen territory through are likely to become more common.

The voyage between Turkey and Morocco has become particularly attractive to people hoping to sneak into Europe since there are no visa requirements between the two countries.

Wednesday’s incident marks the second time in recent years that passengers fled a parked aircraft at Malta’s airport in an attempt to enter the country.

A previous incident in November 2023 was swiftly quelled, when airport officials captured two men who were attempting to escape after another Turkish Airlines flight, this time bound to Algiers, was diverted to Malta after a passenger reported feeling unwell.

Questions sent to Turkish Airlines remain unanswered at the time of publication.

Dozens escape in Mallorca, Barcelona

But other airlines and airports are also being forced to reckon with similar escape attempts.

In 2021, a flight between Morocco and Turkey was diverted to Mallorca, with a man on board appearing to be suffering from a diabetic attack.

As the man (who later turned out to be in perfect health) was being escorted into an ambulance, a group of over 20 passengers pushed their way off the plane, some of them managing to vault over the airport’s perimeter fence.

While airport police managed to capture 12 of the runaways, a dozen others evaded capture, with some believed to have later boarded a ferry towards Barcelona.

Turkey-Morocco trip is particular

Barcelona also found itself in the limelight a year later when another flight travelling from Morocco to Turkey was diverted to the Spanish city after a woman on board claimed to be going into labour.

As medical officials entered the aircraft, 28 passengers jumped off the plane on to the apron. While police managed to detain half of them, several others remained at large.

‘Dramatic’ migration route could become more popular

Salaheddine Lemaizi, editor of Enass.ma, an independent media organisation in Morocco, says these incidents represent a “spectacular and dramatic” migration route into Schengen territory that has taken off in recent years, often spurred by conversations across social media.

The first incident of its sort, in Mallorca, started as an audacious joke on Moroccan social media channels, with a group eventually deciding to go ahead with the journey.

Since then, some TikTokers have taken to acting as de facto travel agents, suggesting possible air travel routes and warning against others.

But the trip between Turkey and Morocco remains a favourite.

“People used to travel to Turkey and cross into Europe posing as Syrians,” Lemaizi told Times of Malta.

But other, often more ingenious routes, are also used.

“Some have taken to booking flights to Angola with a stopover in Lisbon,” Lemaizi said, escaping into Portugal at the first possible opportunity during the stopover.

“These trips are dramatic and spectacular, but they’re often not efficient,” he explained.  “People are often caught and arrested and quickly find themselves back in Morocco.”

Ultimately, Lemaizi says, these incidents represent “a failure of politics”, with European authorities and their Maghreb counterparts still struggling to come to terms with how to address the issue of migration.

“If we don’t renegotiate the agreements between Europe and the Maghreb nations, we will keep seeing these incidents,” Lemaizi says.

And, despite the perils, it is not just the destitute who are willing to make the journey.

Many of those crossing into Europe are relatively well-educated, Lemaizi says, some having worked for several years in Morocco, but nonetheless aspire for a better life in Europe.

“People have a dream to get to Europe, they will spend a lot of money and energy to get there, either by paying traffickers or buying plane tickets”.