The coast near Sfax has become a major departure point for African migrants
29 migrants die in two boat tragedies of Tunisia coast
Tunisian coast guard recovers 10 bodies from a migrant boat which sank near the coast, the second vessel to sink within hours off Tunisia, bringing the death toll to 29.
Sunday 26/03/2023
The coast near Sfax has become a major departure point for African migrants
TUNIS - Tunisia's coast guard recovered 10 bodies from a migrant boat which sank near the coast, the second vessel to sink within hours off Tunisia, bringing the death toll to 29, a security official told Reuters.
Houssem Jebabli, a national guard official, said that the boat sank off the coast of Mahdia, without giving further details.
The coast near Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.
The latest disaster comes in the midst of a campaign of arrests by the Tunisian authorities of undocumented sub-Saharan Africans.
According to UN data, at least 12,000 migrants who reached Italy this year set sail from Tunisia, compared with 1,300 in the same period of 2022. Previously, Libya was the main departure point for migrants.
According to FTDES statistics, Tunisia's coast guard prevented more than 14,000 migrants setting off in boats during the first three months of this year, compared with 2,900 during the same period last year.
The Italian coast guard said on Thursday it had rescued about 750 migrants in two operations off the southern Italian coast.
Europe risks seeing a huge wave of migrants arriving on its shores from North Africa if financial stability in Tunisia is not safeguarded, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday. Meloni called on the IMF and some countries to help Tunisia quickly to avoid its collapse.