Five sub-Saharan African migrants, including four women and a toddler, were found dead off the coast of Monastir, Tunisia, according to a judicial official.
Farid Ben Jha, spokesperson for the Monastir public prosecutor’s office, reported on Thursday that the bodies were discovered on Wednesday and had likely drowned about a week earlier. The child was estimated to be between two and three years old.
An investigation is underway to determine whether their deaths were related to a migration or human trafficking operation.
Tunisia and neighbouring Libya are significant departure points for migrants seeking to reach Europe via dangerous Mediterranean crossings.
Each year, tens of thousands of migrants attempt this perilous journey, often aiming for Italy, which is relatively close to Tunisia. Since January 1, at least 103 makeshift boats have capsized off Tunisia’s coast, resulting in the recovery of 341 bodies, including 336 foreigners, according to the Tunisian interior ministry.
Last year, over 1,300 people died or went missing in shipwrecks off Tunisia, as reported by the Tunisian FTDES rights group.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has documented over 30,309 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean over the past decade, with more than 3,000 occurring last year.