13 Sudanese migrants dead, 27 missing off coast of Tunisia
Only two out of the 42 migrants who were on board the boat survived after leaving from Jebiniana, a small town near Sfax.
Thirteen Sudanese migrants died on Thursday after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia, while 27 others remain missing, a court spokesperson told AFP.
Farid Ben Jha, the spokesman for the court in the coastal city of Monastir, said only two out of the 42 migrants who were on board the boat survived after leaving from Jebiniana, a small town near Sfax.
More To Read
- Is Sudan’s war the reason for South Sudan’s economic crisis? What’s really going on with oil revenue
- Ruto blasts Sudan generals over escalating war, warns of humanitarian catastrophe
- MSF warns of rising sexual violence in Darfur, urges urgent protection, medical support
- 36,000 civilian deaths recorded in 2024 conflicts amid widespread use of banned explosives -UN
- Kenya walks diplomatic tightrope on Sudan amid accusations of RSF ties
- Sudan accuses UAE of May 4 drone attacks on Port Sudan
He said an investigation was opened, adding that the migrants were likely "exploited in a human trafficking case or in the formation of a criminal group to reach Europe illegally".
The victims were all asylum seekers from war-torn Sudan who had registered with the United Nations' refugee agency.
They boarded a fragile metal boat made of scraps hastily welded together, according to the investigation's first findings.
The search for the missing passengers is still underway.
Tunisia and Libya are the main departure points for thousands of irregular migrants who risk their lives every year in the hopes of reaching better lives in Europe.
During the first 11 months of 2023, Tunisian authorities intercepted 69,963 irregular migrants, more than double the figure for the same period in 2022, according to statistics shared by the National Guard.
More than 2,270 people died attempting to cross the central Mediterranean in 2023, a 60 per cent increase on the previous year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Story by AFP
Top Stories Today
