April 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tunisian coast guard has indicated that from April 4 to 6 they have prevented the navigation of 117 migrant boats in a series of operations that have ended with 12 deaths among their occupants.
The coast guard has identified 4,328 people as occupants of these vessels and has seized 109 motorized boats, reports the Mosaique FM station.
The migrants have been made available to the Prosecutor's Office, according to the coast guard, which does not give details about the circumstances of the migrants' deaths beyond the fact that “their bodies were rescued from the sea.”
The city of Sfax has been the scene of numerous shipwrecks of boats carrying migrants heading to the coasts of Europe, which is why the European Union has disbursed millions of euros to help the Government of Tunisia carry out migration controls.
So far in 2024, at least 367 people, including eight minors, have disappeared or lost their lives trying to cross into Europe in the Central Mediterranean region. Last year, the figure was 2,476 dead or missing migrants, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
