Sub-Saharan African Would-Be Immigrants Arrested In Morocco And Spain

July 21, 2008 10:37 a.m. EST

Dakhla, Morocco (AHN) - Several hundred would-be immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa have been rounded up trying to enter Spain illegally over the past several days including 52 arrested by the Moroccan navy.

On Saturday, Morocco's navy arrested 52 people on board a boat off the coast of Morocco's southern Oued Eddhab province who were illegally trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands, Morocco's official Maghreb Arabe Presse agency reported Monday.

Security services told MAP that the illegals included two women.

According to MAP reports, Morocco is used as a transit country by illegal immigrants trying to enter Europe. The would-be immigrants travel through the Gibraltar Strait, the northern Moroccan Spanish-occupied cities of Sebta and Melilia or the Canary Islands, which are off Morocco's southern Atlantic coasts.

In addition to the 52 people arrested by Moroccan authorities on Saturday, Spanish authorities were busy on Wednesday and Friday.

Another 53 would-be immigrants who tried to reach the Canary Islands were arrested on Friday by Spanish authorities on the the Santiago beach in Alajero on La Gomera. Six of their companions were found dead when their boat docked.

Earlier Friday, Spanish authorities intercepted a boat carrying 66 illegals near Puerto Colón on Tenerife. That boat contained two children and three women, although no one was dead on that boat, three people had to be hospitalized.

On Wednesday, a 148 people landed on a beach and tried to run inland, but were apprehended by Spanish authorities who were alerted by tourists. However, another 15 immigrants, including nine children had died offshore, according to reports.

Many of the Sub-Saharan people seeking a better life come from countries such as Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria or Mali.