Tunisia’s civil defense says it recovered the bodies of 14 drowned refugees off the coast of the North African country within a day. They come from sub-Saharan Africa, the agency said tomorrow. It was initially unclear whether there had been a boat accident before.
A particularly large number of people are currently being rescued from Tunisia who get into distress and drown on the dangerous crossing to Europe. Many migrants are currently feeling great pressure to leave the country.
Hostilities and racist attacks have increased sharply since President Kais Saied announced tougher action against them in February and accused them of bringing violence and crime to Tunisia.
Boats often unseaworthy
A number of refugees therefore want to transfer to Europe as quickly as possible. However, the boats in which they set off are often unseaworthy. Accidents with many fatalities occur again and again.
Tunisia is now considered the most important transit country for refugees on their way to Italy. According to the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, almost 45,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat since the beginning of the year – in the same period last year there were almost 12,000.
