Morocco and Spain cooperate over immigration

Yesterday's meeting in Morocco between the secretary-general of Morocco’s foreign ministry, Youssef Amrani and Spanish secretary of state for immigration, Anna Terron i Cusi, was deemed successful after a joint statement revealed that the number of illegal immigrants, mostly from Morocco to Spain, has been substantially reduced over the past two years.

The two countries also renewed their commitment to pursue consultations and coordination and join the effort to bring illegal immigration to a complete halt. A further meeting scheduled for later this year will discuss how to organise legal immigration as well as how to deal with Moroccan immigrants on Spanish soil.

According to the Moroccan official, the meeting was as a result of the good bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries. And this cooperation, in the domain of migratory flow, has led to tangible results and a noticeable decline of the human trafficking phenomenon.

The two countries also agree that a reorganisation of migratory flows is essential if the fight against terrorism as well as the dismantling of various criminal networks operating in both Morocco and Spain are to succeed.

The two countries have also recently held talks surrounding the Ceuta and Melila land dispute that dates back to the 16th century.