Tunisian authorities have recovered three bodies of migrants and detained another 155 people, mostly nationals from various African countries, preventing five sailing departures off the Sfax, the Tunisian state news agency reported on Sunday, adding that 76 more migrants were rescued. off the town of Mahdia.
Earlier in the day, a prosecutor said the death toll from four wrecks of migrants trying to reach Europe had risen to 17, with five more bodies recovered from the 12 already found. According to the Tunisian Coast Guard, 98 people were rescued.
Most of the migrants are nationals of Cλεte d’Ivoire, Mali, Somalia and Nigeria, according to the Tunisian authorities.
In recent months, shipwrecks have multiplied, with dozens dead, off the coast of the Arab country, as boats sail off the coasts of Tunisia, as well as Libya, due to improving weather conditions.
The Sfax coastline has become a platform for people fleeing war and misery in Africa and the Middle East in search of a better life in Europe.
The Tunisian Interior Ministry announced last week that more than 20,000 migrants and refugees were arrested off the coast of the country last year.
At least 15,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy from Tunisia in 2021.
According to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of more than 123,000 migrants and refugees arrived off the coast of Italy in 2021, and by 2020, the median number of the pandemic had dropped to 95,000.
Nearly 2,000 people were reported missing or drowned in the Mediterranean last year, up from 1,401 in 2020, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The central Mediterranean is considered the most dangerous migratory sea route in the world. The IOM, which is part of the UN system, estimates that more than 18,000 refugees and migrants have lost their lives or been declared missing since 2014.
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