Tunisia Tragedy: 10 Drown, EU Deal Raises Concerns
Despite a massive aid deal by EU leaders aimed at encouraging Tunisia’s mercurial president Kais Saied to prevent African migrants heading towards Italy, the tragic deaths continue.
At least 10 Tunisian migrants were missing and one died after their boat sank off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, a judicial official said on July 9th, Reuters reports.
Tunisia is facing an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe, Reuters said.
Just recently, Maghrebi reported that many of Tunisia’s African migrants were being rounded up and taken to the Libyan border where they were dumped raising serious questions as to whether the EU/Italian government plans have been thought through.
The latest tragedy raises the number of dead and missing off the North African country’s coasts to more than 600 in the first half of 2023, far more than in any previous year, according to figures compiled by Reuters.
Reuters/Maghrebi
