At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a migrant boat sank off the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, with two people rescued, a migrant rights group has reported.
The boat, which departed early Thursday, was carrying mostly young people, including seven members of the same family, as well as a man and his pregnant wife, according to Mostafa Abdelkebir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights.
Abdelkebir said one of the survivors told rescuers they had been stranded at sea for hours after the vessel capsised, while the second survivor was in critical condition.
According to Tunisian National Guard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli, coastguard units, supported by an aircraft and naval vessels, were conducting search operations for the missing migrants.
Abdelkebir said four bodies had been recovered, although authorities had not immediately confirmed whether they were from the same boat.
The search operation continued as authorities worked to establish the number of people who had been aboard the vessel.
The central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Europe is one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, with migrants often travelling in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.
Tunisia has been a major departure point for migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, although departures have fallen sharply over the past two years amid tighter maritime controls and a government crackdown.
European funding and border-monitoring equipment, particularly from Italy, have supported efforts to strengthen controls along Tunisia’s coast.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights and humanitarian groups have criticised the EU-Tunisia migration deal, saying it contributed to serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia.
The groups have called on the European Union to suspend funding for migration and border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.
The Tunisian government has maintained that it is bearing the brunt of a major migration influx.
President Kais Saied said in 2023 that the influx was aimed at changing the country’s demographic makeup.
Reuters
