RABAT, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Morocco called Thursday for a stronger involvement of the European Union (EU) in addressing hiking illegal migration flows to the Europe through Morocco.
The call was made by spokesperson of the Moroccan government Mustapha El Khalfi in a press briefing following the cabinet meeting in Rabat.
He said that the number of foiled illegal migration attempts has increased drastically since 2016, noting that the number of thwarted attempts reached 65,000 in 2017 against 32,000 a year earlier.
The minister noted that these operations are conducted mostly by foreigners, stressing that Morocco has paid huge efforts and prices to stop these migrants from reaching the EU countries.
In July, the EU agreed to spend 55 million euros (63.8 million U.S. dollars) to help Tunisia and Morocco manage their frontiers.
A strong cooperation, where the parties have fair shares of the responsibility, has become more than any time an urgent necessity, the spokesperson said.
