RABAT - Morocco has stopped 45,015 people from illegally migrating to Europe since January and busted 177 migrant trafficking gangs, Morocco's state news agency MAP reported on Friday, citing interior ministry data.

It did not give comparative data for the same period in 2023 and the interior ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last year, Morocco stopped 75,184 people from illegally crossing to Europe, up 6 percent from a year earlier, government data showed.

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The Moroccan navy has also rescued 10,859 migrants at sea so far this year, MAP said, citing the interior ministry data.

"In 2024, Morocco continues to face an increasing migratory pressure as a direct outcome of the prevailing instability in the Sahel region and porous borders," it quoted the ministry as saying.

The North African country has for long been a major launch pad for African migrants aiming to reach Europe through the Mediterranean, the Atlantic or by jumping the fence surrounding the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco and Spain have strengthened their cooperation in addressing illegal migration since they patched up a separate diplomatic feud in 2022.

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Last month, however, hundreds of migrants took advantage of a thick mist to swim to Ceuta, according to Spanish police.

Tighter surveillance of Morocco's northern borders is prompting an increasing number of migrants to try the riskier and longer Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.