Nine migrants drowned on Monday (February 28th) off the coast of Tunisia after the boat carrying them capsized, and nine others were rescued, the Tunisian Defense Ministry said.
The bodies of the nine dead migrants, “from several African countries”, were recovered by Tunisian Navy and Coastguard units off the governorate of Mahdia in eastern Tunisia, the statement said. Nine other passengers of the damaged boat were rescued, according to the same source. According to testimonies of survivors quoted by the press release, the boat had left on the night of Sunday to Monday from Sfax, in the center-east of Tunisia,” with the intention of illegally crossing the maritime borders of the space European”.
Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe for migrants from North Africa, particularly Tunisia and Libya, two countries from which departures increased considerably in 2021. The Tunisian Navy had rescued on February 6 off Sfax 163 migrants, mostly Tunisians after the capsize of the boat which was to take them illegally to the European coast.
According to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, in the first nine months of 2021, the Tunisian coast guard intercepted around 19,500 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Nearly 1,300 migrants were reported missing in 2021 or drowned in the Mediterranean, according to statistics from the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
