Twenty‑seven migrants from sub‑Saharan Africa are dead or missing, and 53 others were rescued after two flimsy boats sank off Tunisia’s coast while attempting to reach Europe, an official said on Saturday. The incidents are the latest of several that have occurred over the past few weeks, following a five‑fold increase in rescues compared with the first quarter of last year, according to Tunisian authorities.
In Tunisia, Faouzi Masmoudi, the court spokesman in Sfax, told AFP that four people died, three were missing and another three dozen were saved in the latest tragedy. “There was a new shipwreck this morning — four bodies were recovered from the beach at Sfax and three other people are missing. Another 36 were saved,” Masmoudi said. He added that a separate vessel with 37 people aboard sank on Friday afternoon, leaving 20 unaccounted for; witness accounts indicated that 17 people were rescued from that incident. Investigations have begun into both sinkings, with officials seeking to identify the organizers behind these crossings in makeshift boats made from metal sheeting, which lack basic safety standards but are cheaper than wooden vessels.
Tunisia’s shores, only about 150 km (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, have increasingly become a springboard for perilous attempts by West Africans, Sudanese and others to reach Europe. The Saturday sinking was at least the seventh such incident since the beginning of March, according to an AFP tally, and the cumulative toll since then is around 100 dead or missing. Between January and March, Tunisia’s coastguard intercepted more than 14,000 migrants heading for Europe—over five times the number recorded in the same period of 2022. The coastguard reported 501 clandestine crossing attempts thwarted and 14,406 migrants rescued, including 13,138 from sub‑Saharan African countries. This marks a rise from 2,532 interceptions in the same period last year, National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told AFP, noting that “many more people are trying to leave.”
In Morocco, media reports said 11 migrants drowned when their makeshift boat sank off the west coast while trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands. The dead included eight Moroccans and three sub‑Saharan Africans; one migrant was reportedly rescued, though Moroccan authorities have not yet confirmed the reports.
The surge in drownings follows comments in February by Tunisian President Kais Saied, who ordered “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration and claimed, without evidence, that a “criminal plot” aimed to alter Tunisia’s demographic makeup. His statements sparked evictions and violence against black migrants. Tunisia itself is grappling with a deepening socio‑economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and persistent unemployment, prompting many Tunisians to join the flow toward Italy.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently called for greater support for Tunisia, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that a Tunisian economic or social collapse could trigger a new wave of migrants to Europe—a scenario Tunisian officials reject. An EU delegation visited Tunisia in late March to assess the situation and discuss cooperation on irregular migration. According to Italy’s interior ministry, more than 14,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, compared with just over 5,300 during the same period last year.
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