Morocco arrests 530 sub-Saharan migrants

Morocco has arrested 530 illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to reach European shores, the state news agency MAP said yesterday.

The arrests followed police swoops this week on the outskirts of the capital Rabat where hundreds of sub-Saharans were living pending the arrangement of their trips to Europe.

The migrants, who will be expelled, came from Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone and included 47 women, MAP said.

Thousands of people risk their lives each year trying to reach Spain by sea from Morocco. European Union countries are putting pressure on the North African country and its neighbours to stem the huge inflows.

Madrid on Wednesday praised the Rabat government which it said helped cut the number of illegal immigrants detained in Spain this year.

Government spokesman Nabil Benabdallah on Thursday said Morocco had dismantled 361 illegal migration rings and prevented more than 20,000 people from reaching Europe illegally.