At least 29 migrants found dead off Tunisian coast

According to the Tunisian coast guard, at least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died after their two boats crashed off the Tunisian coast while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

A total of five migrant boats have crashed off the coast of the southern city of Sfax in the last four days, leaving 67 people missing and 9 people dead. This comes following a major rise in the number of migrant boats traveling towards Italy. Tunisia has become a hub for migrants who wish to make it to Europe, with UN figures showing at least 12,000 migrants who landed on Italy's shores this year left from Tunisia.

That figure was just 1,300 in the same time period last year. Senior national guard official Houssem Jebabli told Reuters that 11 people had also been saved by the Tunisian coast guard off the coast of Mahdia, farther north. Statistics from the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights show that more than 14,000 migrants from leaving Tunisia in boats during the first three months of this year were stopped by the coast guard, as opposed to 2,900 during the same period last year.

In the last four days, the coast guard claimed to have halted over 80 boats headed for Italy and captured more than 3,000 migrants, the most of which originated from sub-Saharan African nations. The most recent death occurs in the middle of a campaign of undocumented sub-Saharan Africans being detained by Tunisian police. On Thursday, the Italian coast guard reported that in two operations off the southern Italian coast, it had saved roughly 750 migrants.

At least 34 migrants missing after fifth boat sinks off #Tunisia in two days https://t.co/UxtOvotdIC[1][2]

-- Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) March 26, 2023[3]

Tunisia in dire situation

In a contentious address delivered last month, Tunisia's president accused immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa of fueling a crime surge and labeled them a demographic threat.

The African Union harshly criticized Kais Saied's remarks, and human rights organizations labeled them as "racial hate speech."

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. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also warned that Tunisia urgently needs to reach a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Tunisia's economy is in a poor state, and is facing a crisis.

source: TVP World/Reuters

References

  1. ^ #Tunisia (twitter.com)
  2. ^ https://t.co/UxtOvotdIC (t.co)
  3. ^ March 26, 2023 (twitter.com)

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