PUERTO ROSARIO, Spain - Spain and Morocco Thursday launched a joint maritime surveillance operation between the Canary Islands and the western Sahara aimed at combating the flow of illegal immigrants heading for the Atlantic archipelago.
The Spanish coast guard ship Guadalupe left the Canary Islands' port of Puerto Rosario carrying members of Spain's civil guard and two unarmed Moroccan police officers for the first patrol.
The mission is to patrol the major route for illegal immigrants coming from the Moroccan coast toward the Canaries.
The launch of the joint mission, planned since December, is the fruit of recent accords reached between the two countries to fight clandestine immigration, said the Spanish government's chief representative in the Canaries, Gonzalo Robles.
Under the agreements, the two sides will carry out joint patrols, exchange information and attempt to dismantle people trafficking networks.
Robles said the Spanish government also plans to sign a deal with the International Committee of the Red Cross next week to provide assistance to illegal immigrants arriving in the Canaries.
Each year, thousands of would-be illegal immigrants try to reach the Canary Islands from the Moroccan coast or cross the Strait of Gibraltar for the European mainland.
Spain is currently home to almost 850,000 illegal immigrants.
On January 16, 16 people drowned when their vessel sank as they were trying to reach the Canary island of Fuerteventura, which is only 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the African coast.
15 films to compete in Marrakech festival