The Tunisian Coast Guard announced on Sunday March 26 that at least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died of drowning in three different shipwrecks off the coast of Tunisia. It is a new tragedy in a series of migratory tragedies in the Mediterranean since the violent speech of Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed in February on illegal immigration.
According to the Tunisian Coast Guard press release, a Tunisian trawler recovered 19 bodies after the sinking of a boat at 58 miles offshore. Then a coastguard patrol found eight drowned off Mahdia, a strip of sea between Tunisia and the Italian island of Lampedusa on the east coast, but rescued 11 people. Their boat, which was heading for Italy, capsized. And trawlers recovered two other bodies.
It is a series of tragedies Since Kaïs Saïed’s speech of February 21. In it, the Tunisian president denounced the “ hordes of illegal immigrants and the criminal enterprise » aiming to “ change the demographic composition ” from the country.
These remarks by the Head of State weakened the situation of thousands of sub-Saharans living in Tunisia: many of the 21 000 nationals from sub-Saharan Africa officially registered in Tunisia, most of them in an irregular situation, had lost their jobs, generally informal, and their housing overnight, due to the campaign against illegal immigrants.
Since then, many have tried to leave the country : according to the UN, migrant arrivals in Italy jumped of 226 % in the first quarter of 2023.
On their side, France and Italy called on Friday to support Tunisiafacing a serious financial crisis, in order to contain the “ migration pressure that this country represents for Europe. Rome fears an explosion in the flow of migrants to its coasts, favored by economic and political difficulties in Tunisia, but also by mild weather as summer approaches, facilitating crossings.
► Also to be heard: Stay or go? Sub-Saharans in Tunisia facing stigma
(With AFP)