Tunisia: Coast guard recovers 19 bodies of migrants in Mediterranean

Tunisia: Coast guard recovers 19 bodies of migrants in Mediterranean

The Tunisian coast guard has retrieved the bodies of 19 migrants who were trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa, the national guard said on Tuesday.

The bodies were retrieved off the coast of the southeastern province of Sfax and central Tunisia, the Tunisian National Guard said in a statement on its Facebook page.

“Units of the naval guard have also arrested five individuals from organizers of several migrant smuggling networks,” it added, without giving further details.

Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the main departure points for migrants seeking irregular entry into Europe.

The latest incident took the number of migrant deaths off the Tunisian coast to nearly 200 in first four months of this year.

Sfax, Tunisia’s second biggest city, has emerged as a hub for migrants making their way to Europe. Migrants travel in boats which are often not seaworthy and break down mid-voyage or soon after leaving shore and capsize easily.

Humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned of the dangers of boarding metal boats, a dangerous new trend on which mainly sub-Saharan African migrants are leaving Tunisia.

The Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy is one of the most dangerous in the world. In 2023, the IOM estimates that at least 2,498 people died on this route.