Tunisian authorities have recovered the bodies of nine migrants after a tragic shipwreck off the country’s Mediterranean coast, with 27 survivors rescued and six still unaccounted for, a judicial official revealed on Thursday.
Farid Ben Jha, spokesperson for the prosecution in Monastir and Mahdia, said the boat capsized shortly after departing from Sfax, Tunisia’s primary hub for migrant crossings to Italy. Survivors reported that the vessel sank late Tuesday night.
A nearby fisherman spotted the sinking boat and alerted authorities, enabling the rescue of 27 individuals, including women. All 42 passengers were from sub-Saharan African nations, with some survivors identified as nationals of Cameroon, Senegal, and Guinea.
Tunisia, alongside Libya, serves as a major departure point for migrants attempting perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in pursuit of better opportunities in Europe.
Italy’s Lampedusa island, just 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Tunisia, is often the first destination for these migrants. However, the journey is fraught with danger, with hundreds losing their lives annually.
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) estimates that between 600 and 700 migrants have died or gone missing in shipwrecks off Tunisia this year alone. This follows over 1,300 deaths or disappearances in 2023 across the Mediterranean.
Recent incidents include the recovery of two bodies in late November after a boat sank off Mahdia and the retrieval of 15 bodies in Monastir in October. In September, 36 migrants, mainly Tunisians, were rescued off the northern coast near Bizerte.
This latest tragedy shows the continuing risks faced by migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and beyond as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean. With political instability and economic hardships driving migration, these waters remain one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes.
