Morocco planes to deport illegal immigrants back to Senegal

Morocco planned to deport some 300 illegal immigrants back to Senegal aboard several flights on Monday, Moroccan authorities said.

Morocco, the gateway to Europe for many sub-Saharan Africans fleeing poverty, has been at the center of an immigration crisis in recent weeks.

Hundreds of Africans have stormed razor-wire border fences with Spanish territories, and at least a dozen have been killed. Moroccan authorities planned to send some 300 Senegalese by plane to Dakar on Monday from Oujda, in northeast Morocco.

The Senegalese were picked up around Morocco, including near Spanish enclaves on the northern Moroccan coast that have been rushed by waves of immigrants in recent weeks.

Some 600 Malians were also due to be deported from Oujda in coming days, Moroccan authorities said, reports the AP. I.L.