1,300 lost at sea in 2023, Tunisian NGO claims
Just over 1,300 clandestine migrants died at sea attempting to get to the European continent from Tunisia last year, according to NGO, Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), February 13.
The north African country is a popular departure point for migrants seeking to reach Europe in hope of a better life given Tunisia’s dire economic misfortunes, emphasised by the shortages of basic foods such as bread and rice which has put despot Kais Saied under severe pressure amongst other crises which have angered the population.
Last month, French newspaper Le Monde reported that 266,940 came into Europe in 2023, overwhelmingly by sea, and that migration, mostly from Tunisia and The Canary Islands, into the continent had shot up by two thirds from 2022.
Islem Ghaarbi, a migration expert at FTDES, said that, “1,313 people died or disappeared off the Tunisian coast, a figure never reached in Tunisia.”
Ghaarbi also pointed out that around 66% of them were of sub-Saharan African origin and that the high number was akin to “approximately half of the deaths and missing in the Mediterranean (in 2023)”.
READ: Tunisian NGOs call out govt’s harsh migrant treatment
The Tunisian rights group studies and stands up for migrants and other marginalised communities within society and have recently lambasted President Saied for his hostile stance on migration, accusing him of pandering to the European Union.
The European bloc and the country agreed to a deal in which the former would boost the latter’s lacklustre economy in exchange for Tunisia establishing tougher border controls.
In February last year, the Tunisian leader called on the authorities to take strong action against “hordes of illegal migrants” and claimed that sub-Saharan Africans posed a threat to the country’s demographic make-up.
Since his inflammatory language, migrants have been subject to physical attacks, women have face sexual assaults as well as their homes and possessions being destroyed by the security forces.
Recently, UN agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also sounded the alarm bells with regards to the shockingly high migrant death toll, saying that 2,500 had died trying to cross the central Mediterranean in 2023, a 75% increase from the year prior.
FTDES/ IOM
