Tunisian civil protection teams recovered the bodies of 3 illegal migrants on Wednesday while rescuing 240 other people on the high seas, including 8 Tunisians after their boat sank off the coast. of the governorate of Sfax (south).
A source within the National Guard units (affiliated with the Interior Ministry) told Anadolu Agency that “a fishing boat carrying a large number of migrants (the exact figure was not specified) to Europe was shipwrecked off Sfax, at a depth of 6 meters”.
The source, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to make statements to the media, added that “most of the migrants are sub-Saharan Africans, among whom there were 8 Tunisians”.
She explained that “the civil protection teams recovered 3 bodies, and rescued 240 other people, including the 8 Tunisians”.
And to add that the units of the National Guard and the Navy, with the participation of divers belonging to the Civil Protection, continued the search operations for the missing persons who were on board the boat.
In 2021, the Interior Ministry arrested 20,616 illegal migrants, including 10,371 of foreign nationalities, and most of them were from sub-Saharan Africa, figures show.
Migrants are looking for a better life in Europe, following wars or deteriorating economic conditions in their country of origin.
