RABAT, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Over 961,000 Moroccans living abroad have returned to their homeland for summer vacation between June 5 and July 17, the minister in charge of Moroccans residing abroad and immigration affairs, Abdelkrim Benatiq, said on Thursday.

Speaking at the cabinet weekly meeting, the minister said 44 percent of the Moroccan expatriates entered through seaports, 41 percent via airports and the rest through crossing points with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

Benatiq said the flow of the return is expected to reach its peak during the coming two weeks.

Among some five million Moroccans living abroad, over 2.5 million enter the country every year during the summer vacation.

Every year, Morocco organizes a special operation called "Marhaba" (welcome) to welcome its expatriates from early June to mid-September.

The Moroccan expatriates are one of the main sources of foreign currency in the North African kingdom. In 2017, their remittances reached nearly 7 billion dollars, an increase of 4.5 percent.