Rabat - In preparation for the launch of the Marhaba 2022 operation, a total of 32 ships have been mobilized on all the shipping lines linking Moroccan ports to Spanish, French and Italian ports, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics announced Saturday 7 may 2022.

These ships will have a total capacity of about 478,000 passengers and 123,000 cars and will ensure 571 weekly trips, the Ministry said in a statement, following a meeting of the Moroccan-Spanish Joint transit Commission that took place on Thursday in Rabat.

The meeting focused on the operational arrangements put in place by the two parties to ensure the fluidity of travel and the best quality of service offered to the Moroccans living abroad.

Twenty-three ships will be assigned to the shipping lines with Spain, which account for 95% of passenger traffic, 14 of which will carry passengers on the Tanger Med-Algeciras line. Two ships will be assigned to transport goods (trucks), the statement said.

These ships can ensure 47 daily trips with a capacity of about 40,000 passengers and 11,000 cars, i.e. a 4% increase compared to 2019, it added.

Ticket booking will also be introduced on all the shipping lines participating in the operation Marhaba 2022, including the routes of "Tangier Med/Algeciras" and "Tangier city/Tarifa", in order to control the number of passengers and take the necessary measures to ensure a smooth traffic flow between the two shores, the Ministry said.

MAP

Madrid - Miguel Angel Puyol, head of the Center for Hispanic-Moroccan Studies, highlighted on Saturday Morocco's role in the fight against illegal immigration, saying that the Kingdom is taking a comprehensive and humanistic approach for the benefit of Spain and Europe.

"Morocco's role in managing migratory flows is very important. Morocco, which also bears the brunt of illegal migration, takes a comprehensive and effective approach," Puyol told MAP.

The Spanish expert in Maghreb affairs commended the meeting held Friday in Rabat of the Permanent Spanish-Moroccan Group on Migration, which confirmed the resolve of both countries to move forward in their relationship.

The conclusions of this meeting will give a new impetus to a "necessary and beneficial" cooperation for Spain and the whole of Europe, Puyol explained.

"Besides Spain, the European Union is also called upon to support and assist Morocco in dealing with this global phenomenon with multinational dimensions," the expert added.

"Joint action" is fundamental to curb the maneuvers of the mafias operating in this area, he said.

The president of the Center for Hispanic-Moroccan Studies commended the resumption of the "Marhaba" operation, scheduled for this summer after two years of interruption due to the health crisis caused by the spread of Covid-19.

This is a large-scale operation that has an important human component linking two friendly and neighboring peoples, he stated.

The Permanent Moroccan-Spanish Group on Migration convened Friday in Rabat under the chairmanship of Khalid Zerouali, Wali Director of Migration and Border Surveillance at the Ministry of Interior, and Spanish Secretary of State for Migration, Jesus Perea Cortijo.

MAP

HM King Mohammed VI on Friday sent a speech to the 6th European Union-African Union Summit, which is held in Brussels.

The Council of the Moroccan Community -living- Abroad (CCME) has recently published the book "Breaking the violent silence", published by the Center "Al Hasaniya". It features testimonials from abused women, generally domestic, gathered and assembled by activists of the London-based NGO.

In the context of the partnership agreement signed between the Council of the Moroccan Community Living Abroad (CCME) and the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences (FSJES)-Agdal of Mohammed V University in Rabat, and on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Glorious Green March, CCME and FSJES-Agdal are initiating a series of training conferences on the issue of "The Moroccan Sahara: truth and history ".