Tunisia: 17 missing in boat heading to Italy
At least 17 Tunisian migrants are missing after an attempted voyage to the Italian coastline, according to Reuters.
On the 12th February, a fishing boat left the northern Tunisian city of Bizerte, carrying a minimum of 17 passengers. The youngest aboard was a five-year-old child.
National Guard Official, Houssem Eddine Jebabli revealed that Coast guard and Navy forces have begun search operations with the assistance of helicopters.
A similar disappearance happened just 33 days ago where 40 migrants vanished on the 10th January and still remain missing today. Almost a week after their disappearance and no news of the boat’s location, the families of the missing passengers set tyres alight and constructed roadblocks in response to the lack of information or clarity from the National Guard on the 16th January.
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The journey across the Central Mediterranean Sea has claimed the lives of over 1,300 lives in 2023, as individuals look to escape Tunisia’s dire economic conditions such as food shortages.
A Tunisian fisherman who works off the coast of Sfax told the BBC that over the course of three days, 15 bodies were washed into his fishing nets. Every one of them was attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean Sea in hopes of freedom from poverty and conflict.
In 2023, Italy saw the arrival of over 152,000 migrants who had all braved the same treacherous crossing. In 2022, boat landings on the Italian coast hit 105,000.
The masses of migrants entering the country prompted Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni to propose a plan which aims to minimise the volume of migrants arriving in Italy from Tunisia. The deal also sought to maximise energy deals, in January 2024.
In the first 29 days of 2024, over 100 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded.
Reuters/BBC
