Tunis, Jan 2 (IANS) Tunisian Maritime Guards and the Navy have recovered 27 bodies and rescued 83 undocumented immigrants after their boats sank off the southeastern coast of Sfax province, the Tunisian National Guard said Thursday via its Facebook account.
The rescue operation was launched on Wednesday following an emergency call about two boats taking on water, said the National Guard.
“During the operation, 83 of the migrants were rescued, including 17 women and seven children. 27 bodies were recovered, including a baby,” it said, adding the search for the missing is still underway, Xinhua news agency reported.
Last month, Tunisian coast guards had retrieved 20 bodies of undocumented immigrants after their boat sank off the coast of the southeastern Sfax province.
“The boat sank about 13 nautical miles off the coast of Ellouza village after it had sailed last night at 11 p.m. local time from the coast of Chebba,” the National Guard said in a statement on December 18.
The boat was carrying immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who tried to cross the Mediterranean illegally toward the Italian island of Lampedusa, it said, noting that five immigrants were rescued, given necessary aid, and then transported to nearby ports for further medical care, registration, and legal processing.
On December 12, the Tunisian coast guards had retrieved 11 bodies of undocumented immigrants after their boat sank off the eastern coastal province of Mahdia.
Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular transit points for illegal immigration to Europe.
The country has rejected any attempts to turn it into a transit hub or a place of residence for illegal migrants.
In November, Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti held a meeting with visiting Director General of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Michael Spindelegger and underlined the importance of stepping up joint efforts to address the root causes of illegal migration.
During their talks, Nafti praised the existing cooperation between Tunisia and ICMPD and also reviewed cooperation programmes in migration governance and border management over the last decade.
For his part, Spindelegger had expressed his satisfaction with the “excellent” level of cooperation with Tunisia, stressing ICMPD’s readiness to continue strengthening cooperation on migration and border management with all stakeholders.
–IANS
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