RABAT, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The European Union granted Morocco 101.7 million euros (113 million U.S. dollars) to help the country fight illegal immigration and human trafficking, official MAP news agency reported Wednesday.
The new funding is part of the EU's continuous support for Morocco's efforts to fight illegal immigration and human trafficking, MAP said.
"With this new aid, we are deepening our partnership with Morocco to further reduce the number of illegal immigrants' arrivals on the Western Mediterranean route," Oliver Varhelyi, European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement, was quoted by MAP as saying.
This financial support for Morocco is part of a 147.7-million-euro budget earmarked by the EU for the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking.
The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa was established in November 2015 to address the root causes of irregular migration.
The general budget of this fund is worth more than 4.6 billion euros, according to the EU.
