About fifty Moroccan migrants have been missing off the coast of southern Morocco for more than ten days after attempting to board a secret boat to Spain, a source close to one of the disappeared told us on Thursday.
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These 51 migrants “were supposed to take a secret migrant boat off Agadir at dawn on Sunday June 11, en route to the Canary Islands, according to the information we have,” Amine Aharrouy, a family member of one of them, told AFP the migrants.
“To date, we have no further information as to what may have happened to them,” he explained.
“We hope that the Moroccan authorities will be able to clarify their fate,” added Mr Aharrouy, who wished to speak on behalf of the families of the disappeared.
When questioned, the same authorities did not respond to AFP’s inquiries.
No further details could be obtained about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of these migrants. The Moroccan electronic newspaper Hespress reported further testimonies from relatives of the disappeared.
In addition, activist Helena Maleno of the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras tweeted on June 11 that “58 people, including 21 women and a baby, were on the verge of death due to the shipwreck of the inflatable boat they were traveling on” for Las Palmas, the capital of one of the Canary Islands.
According to Ms. Maleno, the sinking occurred in the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Laâyoune, a town in Western Sahara.
The missing are from El Attaouia province, near Marrakech, said his confidant, Mr Aharrouy.
This tragedy, in the absence of official information, does not appear to be linked to the sinking of a refugee boat on Wednesday about 160 km off the coast of the island of Gran Canaria, which Spanish rescuers said killed at least two people at sea.
According to Caminando Fronteras, whose assessments are based in particular on the statements of migrants or their families, a total of 39 people died in this shipwreck, including four women and a baby.
Departures of migrant boats to the Canary Islands, often from the shores of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, have multiplied in recent days due to good weather conditions.