Morocco intercepts a boat with 141 people as African migrants increasingly attempt to reach Spain

FILE – Moroccan navy attempts to intercept a boy swimming to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, at the border between Morocco and Spain, on May 19, 2021. The Moroccan navy said it intercepted 141 people attempting to traverse the Atlantic Ocean as migration from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has spiked since the beginning of the year. Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces said in a statement Sunday Feb. 18, 2024 it was able to rescue all passengers on a boat off the coast of the Western Sahara, a disputed territory with a coastline that Morocco has controlled since 1975. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy, File)