The Tunisian Coast Guard announced today, Monday, the loss of 17 migrants who set off an illegal migration operation from the coast of the Tunisian province of Bizerte (north) a week ago.
Hossam Eddine Jebabli, the official spokesman for the Coast Guard, said: “Search operations are continuing for 17 missing migrants who set off last Monday from the coast of Bizerte.”
The missing are Tunisians and “among them is a minor, a father, and a woman,” according to Jebabli.
The day before yesterday, Saturday, a number of families of missing persons demonstrated in the center of the city of Bizerte to demand that the authorities search for their children, according to local media reports.
Thirteen migrants died and 27 others went missing off the eastern coast of Tunisia after their boat sank, a judicial spokesman said Thursday.
Farid Ben Jaha, spokesman for the Monastir City Court, said that 42 migrants set off from the coast of the “Jebniana” area in the Sfax Governorate (east), and two migrants were rescued.
All of these were men, and they held asylum cards.
Tunisia, along with Libya, represents a starting point for thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe.
As of November 2023, the Tunisian National Guard intercepted 69,963 migrants, compared to 31,297 during the same period in 2022, according to statistics reported earlier by Guard spokesman Houssam Eddine Jebali.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 2,498 people died in 2023 in the Mediterranean while trying to reach European coasts, an increase of 70% over the previous year.
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