Ten migrants bodies found on Tunisian beach in Sfax

Tunisian authorities announced on Sunday the discovery of ten bodies of migrants "apparently from sub-Saharan Africa" on a beach in the governorate of Sfax, the main departure point for migrants to Europe.

The National Guard stated in a press release that "10 bodies were recovered in the last 48 hours by the maritime guard units off the coast of Lawata" in northern Sfax (central-eastern Tunisia).

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the courts of Sfax, Fawzi Masmoudi, told AFP that "eight bodies, all apparently of sub-Saharan Africans, were recovered, but tests and samples are being taken to determine their identities."

The spokesperson mentioned that the bodies were found "between Friday and Saturday" after severe storms and winds that may have caused the boat carrying the migrants to sink, confirming that there were no reports of a boat sinking off the coast of Sfax.

Masboudi added that the victims might have departed from another location in the south of Sfax or from Mahdia (central-east) or Jerjis (southeast).

Since the beginning of the year until July 20, 901 bodies of drowned migrants have been found off the Tunisian coast, most of them from countries in sub-Saharan Africa. During the same period, 34,290 migrants were rescued and intercepted.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, around 90,000 migrants have reached Italy, which is about 150 kilometers from the closest Tunisian coast since the beginning of the year.

The majority of migrants set sail from Tunisia, while the rest sailed from Libya.

The central Mediterranean region is the most dangerous migration route in the world, with more than 20,000 deaths recorded since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The pace of irregular migration of sub-Saharan Africans increased in March and April following a speech delivered by Tunisian President Kais Saied on February 21, denouncing the arrival of "hordes of migrants" as part of a "criminal scheme" aimed at "changing Tunisia's demographic composition."

In the aftermath of Saied's speech, hundreds of irregular migrants lost their unofficial jobs and were evicted from their homes, and dozens of attacks against them were recorded in the country.


AFP