The difficult identification of migrants who died at sea in Tunisia

Audio 02:28

By: Magali Lagrange Follow

More than 20,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since 2014, according to the United Nations. The vast majority of bodies recovered during these shipwrecks remain anonymous. But in recent years, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross, procedures have been put in place to collect as much information as possible on the bodies, in order to allow their identification. Relatives of missing persons can approach international organizations such as the ICRC to launch a search. Among the countries which apply these procedures: Tunisia. Report in Sfax (on the coast, about 300 km from Tunis), one of the main points of departure for migrants to the Old Continent.

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The sun heats the earth in Lejmi cemetery. On one side, anonymous graves. those of dozens of people from sub-Saharan Africa who died in the sinking of a migrant boat off Sfax in early June. Mounir Elloumi, mayor of the city:

“  We proceeded with this burial in separate tombs, with identification under very clear numbers, which might be necessary to definitively identify the origin of the buried.  "

Each grave has a unique number, which corresponds to that of a file, in which are grouped all the data collected on the bodies. To constitute it, the forensic medicine department of the Habib Bourguiba hospital works with the judiciary, the scientific police, and various specialists (radiologists, dentists). Professor Samir Maatoug is the head of this service:

“  We noted all the characteristics, whether it was clothes, shoes, scars, tattoos, etc. Then we did the fingerprints for some, samples of cartilage for a possible genetic identification.  "

Of the 61 bodies recovered during this sinking, only that of the Tunisian captain of the boat has so far been identified with certainty. A sample was also taken from a mother who is looking for her daughter so that the data could be compared. Pending further requests from relatives of the missing, all files are being kept.

Bilal Sablouh, regional coordinator of forensic medicine of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who participates in the harmonization of data collection procedures explains:

“  People can approach the ICRC and the various Red Crescent and Red Crosses around the world and open a tracing request. So after opening a search request, we start to make the various clarifications and we start to look for the fate of this missing person.  "

Even though only a few bodies have been identified so far, Professor Maatoug and his team continue to keep track of the missing:

“  Families even come 2 years, 3 years, 4 years later, we already have the genetic imprint. At any time, even 10 years later, even 20 years later, they can recognize their own.  "

With the hope that parents, children or even small children, will one day come to be able to finally give them a name.

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