As of: 04/24/2023 4:14 p.m
More and more people are trying to get to Europe via Tunisia. A dangerous route that many pay for with their lives. The Tunisian Navy said it recovered 31 bodies off the coast.
The National Guard discovered 31 bodies near various coastal towns, including Sfax and Mahdia. Two children were among the dead. The migrants are believed to be from sub-Saharan Africa. It is unclear whether they had previously gotten into distress with boats. Eleven drowned migrants were recovered in Sfax over the weekend.
Drowned people were recovered off Sfax and other coastal towns off Tunisia.
Image: ARD current
Already more than 200 dead off Tunisia this year
More people are currently making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean again. Tunisia is now considered the most important transit country for getting to Italy – but the flight often ends fatally. According to the non-governmental organization Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), almost 200 people have died in boat accidents off the Tunisian coast this year.
Many migrants want to leave Tunisia. One reason: President Kais Saied announced tougher action against them in February. He also accused them of bringing violence and crime into the country. Since then, the number of hostilities and racist attacks against refugees has increased.
More boat people reach Italy
The Italian Ministry of the Interior counted well over 31,000 people who reached Italy by boat this year, about four times as many as in the previous year. From Sunday to Monday alone, 800 boat people arrived on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. The reception center there is overcrowded. The government in Rome had already declared a state of emergency nationwide because of the high number of immigrants.