In the waters off Tunisia, the coast guard has recovered the bodies of at least 70 drowned migrants since Friday. Government officials announced this on Monday. Two boats sank near the coastal town of Sfax on Monday, judicial official Faouzi Masmoudi told Reuters.
“The morgues in Sfax hospitals are overwhelmed by the large number of migrant bodies. It’s a public health hazard,” Masmoudi said. At least 47 refugees were rescued from distress at sea on Monday.
Tunisia has replaced Libya as the country from which most migrants attempt to cross to Europe. The migrants are fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.
The Tunisian National Guard announced this month that more than 14,000 people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, were apprehended or rescued in the first three months of the year. This means that their number has quintupled in the same period of the previous year.
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