The phenomenon of illegal immigration is still growing. More than 600 migrants have been rescued off the Tunisian coast.
The Tunisian authorities announced that they had rescued 635 illegal migrants of sub-Saharan nationalities off the coast of central Tunisia on Friday night, after their makeshift boats sank.
The National Guard units in the regions of Sfax and Mahdia managed to foil 18 illegal immigration attempts that took place during the night of 17 to 18 March, the National Guard spokesman said in a statement.
The Tunisian and Libyan territorial waters are considered a transit zone for most of the illegal migrants’ boats to Europe.
According to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), 149 illegal migrants have drowned since the beginning of 2022 off the coast of Tunisia, recalling that between 2017 and 2021, a total of 42,703 men and 1,251 women reached the Italian coast, knowing that 53,524 irregular migrants failed to reach the Italian territory during the same period.
HA/lb/abj/APA