![Royal Moroccan Navy officers intercept migrants in the water at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on May 19, 2021 in Fnideq [FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-1232988219-scaled-e1658908114761.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
According to the latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of Interior, 12,704 migrants arrived in Spain illegally in the first half of the year, the majority – 7,213 – landed in the Canary Islands.
For its part, the Moroccan authorities said they have thwarteThe Moroccan Navy has rescued 845 irregular migrants and recovered the body of one over the past eight days, amid a rise in attempts to reach the Spanish Canary Islands in the Atlantic, state news agency MAP reported.
"The Royal Navy Coast Guard units provided assistance, during the period between July 10 and July 17, to 845 candidates for illegal immigration of different nationalities, most of whom hail from sub-Saharan African countries," MAP quoted a military source as saying.
READ: Turkiye saves irregular migrants from 'almost certain' death
Around half of the migrants were rescued in Rabat's territorial waters off the country's south, MAP said, notin that a body was recovered and transported to the nearest Moroccan port during these operations.
The migrants were in the process of trying to cross the waterway, in "perilous journeys on traditional-made boats, kayak boats, water bikes, and even by swimming," according to the same source.
AlarmPhone, which runs a hotline for migrants in distress at sea, on Tuesday tweeted that "24 people died in a shipwreck" off the disputed Western Sahara.
A boat which capsized two days ago carried 61 people, 37 of whom survived, the group said.
d about 26,000 irregular migration attempts during the first five months of the year.
READ: Tunisia recovers bodies of 13 migrants after boat sinks off coast
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