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Forty migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have died following a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia, while 30 others were rescued, according to a judicial spokesman who spoke to AFP on Wednesday.
Walid Chtabri, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office in Mahdia, said preliminary investigations indicated that around 70 people were aboard the ill-fated vessel.
“Forty bodies, including infants, were recovered, and 30 people were rescued,” he confirmed, adding that all the passengers were from sub-Saharan African countries.
Tunisia, located roughly 145 kilometres from the Italian island of Lampedusa, remains a key transit point for thousands of African migrants attempting the perilous journey to Europe each year.
According to recent figures from the UN Refugee Agency, more than 55,000 irregular migrants have reached Italy since the beginning of the year, most departing from Libya, while nearly 4,000 embarked from Tunisia.
The central Mediterranean route is regarded as one of the deadliest migration passages in the world, with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) recording at least 32,803 deaths or disappearances since 2014.
As the European Union intensifies its efforts to curb irregular migration, many migrants have found themselves stranded in Tunisia.
In 2023, the Tunisian government signed a €255 million (around $290 million) agreement with the EU, nearly half of which was allocated to combating irregular migration.
The deal, backed strongly by Italy’s far-right government, sought to enhance Tunisia’s ability to prevent migrant boats from departing its shores.
Earlier this year, Tunisian President Kais Saied urged the IOM to speed up the voluntary repatriation of irregular migrants to their home countries, amid growing pressure and deteriorating conditions for migrants in the North African nation.
