At least 27 migrants dead or missing in two shipwrecks off Tunisia

Sub-Saharan migrants rescued by the Tunisian Coast Guard, October 4, 2022. AFP - FETHI BELAID

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After two shipwrecks on Friday and Saturday, nearly 30 migrants died or went missing. They had left Tunisia from Sfax to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.

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According to testimonies collected by the justice, 37 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa had "left the coast north of Sfax on two boats ". One was shipwreckedFriday afternoon. All 20 people on board are missing. The other 17 who were in the second boat were able to be saved, said the spokesman of the court of Sfax. The other shipwreck took place this Saturday morning, "closer to the coast". For this one, the balance sheet of "four bodies recovered on a beach north of Sfax, three missing and 36 people rescued".

The organizers of these crossings are actively sought by the Tunisian authorities and investigations have been opened for these shipwrecks, according to the spokesman of the court. The boats were made of sheet iron, a material "that does not offer [the] minimum safety conditions at all, but is cheaper to manufacture than those made of wood," he said.

Increase in departures

These two new shipwrecks add to an already very deadly toll since the beginning of the year. Since the beginning of March, more than a hundred migrants have died or disappeared off the coast of Tunisia. And since 2014, more than 26,000 migrants have gone missing in Mediterranean waters, according to the International Office for Migration (IOM).

► Also listen: Great report - Stay or go? Tunisia's Sub-Saharans face stigma

In recent months, Tunisia has been facing an explosion of departures from its coast. On Friday, the National Guard announced that it had rescued or intercepted "14,406 people, including 13,138 from sub-Saharan Africa, the rest being Tunisians", in the first three months of the year, more than five times the number recorded for the same period of 2022.

An increase due to the economic and political crisis that the country is going through, but not only. Since 21 February and the violent anti-immigration rhetoric held by President Kaïs Saïed, the situation has become difficult for sub-Saharan migrants. Victims of attacks and racism, many of the more than 20,000 nationals officially registered in the country have lost their homes or jobs and are therefore desperate to leave the country.

(

With AFP)

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• Tunisia
• Immigration