- By Cecilia Macaulay
- BBC News
1 hour ago
Image source, Getty Images
picture description,
In February, this migrant boat was rescued about 50 km off the Tunisian coast
At least 29 migrants have died after at least two boats sank off the Tunisian coast in a matter of hours, officials say.
The migrants from sub-Saharan Africa tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to get to Italy.
It is the latest in a string of migrant boats to capsize off the Tunisian coast in recent days, with five others sinking in the past four days.
This came after Tunisia launched a campaign against undocumented African migrants.
Meanwhile, Italian officials on the island of Lampedusa say they are overwhelmed after a record 2,500 migrants arrived in the past 24 hours.
Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has warned Europe that a huge wave of refugees is arriving on its shores.
Tunisia has become a hub for migrants trying to make it to Europe. UN figures show at least 12,000 migrants who landed on Italy’s coast this year left Tunisia. In the same period last year, there were only 1,300.
But the Tunisian Coast Guard says it is taking steps to stop migrant crossings after stopping around 80 ships en route to Europe over the past four days, according to Portal news agency. It also says it has detained more than 3,000 migrants, the same agency reports.
In a controversial speech last month, the Tunisian president accused the country’s sub-Saharan African migrants of causing a crime wave, calling them a demographic threat.
Kais Saied’s remarks were widely criticized by the African Union and denounced as “racist hate speech” by human rights groups.
These comments have led some sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia to live in fear, with some saying they have seen an increase in racist incidents.
This has prompted some countries, such as Ivory Coast and Guinea, to deport their citizens due to a growing climate of intolerance in Tunisia.
Tunisia’s economy is in poor shape and is facing a crisis after negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stalled.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also warned that Tunisia urgently needs to conclude a rescue agreement with the IMF.