Rabat, July 14 -- Members of the Royal Moroccan Navy rescued 161 irregular migrants in the Mediteranean on Friday.

The would-be migrants were aboard tiny unsafe boats when the Moroccan navy intervened to assist them, Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported.

Last week , Moroccan director of migration at the Ministry of Interior Khalid Zerouali said that the law enforcement forces foiled more than 40,300 irregular migration attempts since January 2019.

Zerouali said that the irregular migration attempts foiled so far represent a 25% increase from the same period of 2018.

He stated that the flow of irregular migrants persists despite concerted efforts from Morocco and its international partners, including Spain.

"It is true that on the Spanis...