More than 40 Sudanese refugees capsize off the coast of Tunisia

At least 13 Sudanese migrants drowned, and 27 others went missing yesterday after their boat capsized off the eastern coast of Tunisia. They were all refugees, in possession of international protection cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tunisia.

Farid Ben Jha, spokesperson for the court of Montasir, told Associated Press (AP) yesterday that 42 people were on the boat when it set off the coast of Jebiniana in Sfax. “The Tunisian coast guard was able to rescue just two people from the capsized boat 14 kilometres off the coast of the port of Chebba, and is searching for those missing”.

An investigation has been opened to determine responsibility, without ruling out the possibility that the migrants “were exploited in the case of human trafficking or in forming a criminal agreement to reach Europe surreptitiously,” he said. Operations are still underway to search for other migrants.

Tunisia, along with Libya, is the main departure point for thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe. As of November last year, the Tunisian National Guard intercepted 69,963 migrants compared to 31,297 during the same period in 2022, according to statistics attributed to spokesperson Hossameldin Jebali.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 3,041 people died in the Mediterranean in 2023 while trying to reach European shores illegally, a 60 per cent increase from the previous year.

In July, Sudanese refugees in the Tunisian port city of Sfax were subjected to a brutal crackdown by security forces, with reports of violent beatings and mass expulsions, predominantly targeting migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.