More than 450 migrants were rescued during several operations off the north, east and south coasts of Tunisia, overnight from Sunday to Monday, the Tunisian coast guard announced. Among the survivors, 289 were from sub-Saharan Africa, the rest were Tunisians.
Once again, tragedy was narrowly avoided. On Monday July 18, the Tunisian coast guard announced that it had rescued 455 migrants during 37 rescue operations overnight from Sunday to Monday, off the north, east and south coasts of the country.
“As part of the fight against irregular immigration, National Guard units in the north, center, east and south have foiled 37 attempts to cross” maritime borders, the National Guard said in a statement.
During these operations, “455 people were rescued, including 289 of several nationalities from sub-Saharan Africa, the rest being Tunisians,” said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, spokesman for the National Guard.
>> To read: More than 70 migrants missing after shipwreck off Tunisia
Every year, attempts to cross the Mediterranean by Tunisians but also people from sub-Saharan Africa increase during the summer period. The Sfax region (central-eastern Tunisia) is one of the main departure points for Tunisian and foreign migrants to the Italian coasts.
More than 700 dead at sea since January
Due to the dangerousness of the crossing, it is not uncommon for boats to sink or overturn in the open sea. Bodies are regularly found stranded on the beaches of Tunisia or recovered at sea by fishermen or guards. -ribs.
>> To (re)read: Tunisian fishermen, rescuers of migrants in spite of themselves
May 20, three people died and a dozen disappeared in the sinking of their boat, which left Sfax.
The authorities also discover the corpses of migrants, who left from Libya, neighboring Tunisia. End of June, 12 bodies were recovered off the coast of the country. According to the first elements, they were sub-Saharan migrants trying to reach Italy from the Libyan coast.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 1,200 people have lost their lives in the central Mediterranean, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Last year, more than 3,000 exiles went missing or drowned in these waters, compared to around 2,300 in 2020.
Last year, 15,671 migrants managed to reach Italian soil from the Tunisian coast, compared to 12,883 in 2020, according to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).