Tunis [Tunisia], April 13: The Tunisian coastguard retrieved the bodies of 10 dead migrants after their Europe-bound boat sank off the country's coast, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The coastguard on Tuesday rescued 76 migrants in distress from two other boats trying to make the crossing to Europe, a spokesman for the Tunisian National Coastguard added.
Among those on board the boat were many Tunisians as well as migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. It was not immediately clear where the boat departed from or when. The latest deaths raise to 164 the total of migrants who have drowned or gone missing in boat accidents off Tunisia since the start of this year, according to the non-governmental organization Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES). Tunisia is now considered the most important transit country for migrants on their way to Italy, surpassing war-torn Libya.
The Italian Ministry of the Interior counted more than 31,000 people who reached Italy on boats this year. At this point last year, there were around 7,900.
Growing numbers of migrants have sought to leave Tunisia since President Kais Saied announced tougher crackdowns on them in February.
He accused them of bringing violence and crime into the country. Since then, hostilities and racist attacks have increased. Tunisian authorities have arrested hundreds of people from sub-Saharan Africa. In view of the worsening economic crisis, a growing number of Tunisians are also themselves seeking to migrate to Europe.
Source: Qatar Tribune