Five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned and another 28 were missing Wednesday after their boat capsized off Tunisia, a rights group said. “Five migrants’ bodies were recovered and five other migrants were rescued, but 28 are still missing,” said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for social and economic rights (FTDES). He said it had sunk “because it was overloaded” with 38 people, mostly from the Ivory Coast.
The boat had set off from the coastal region of Sfax in the direction of the Italian island of Lampedusa, a popular launchpad for people from people escaping war and persecution across Africa to try to reach safety in Europe.
The sinking is the latest such tragedy on the central Mediterranean, known as the world’s deadliest migration route. It comes a month after President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech accusing migrants from sub-Saharan Africa of representing a “plot” against Tunisia and causing a wave of crime. His comments sparked a wave of violence against black migrants, and landlords fearing fines evicted hundreds of people who are now camping in the streets of Tunis.
Migrants, many of whom fear they will face violence if they go home, have called on the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR to evacuate them. Around 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are believed to be in the country of 12 million people.
Meanwhile…
Algerian authorities have dismantled an international network specialising in trafficking people through Algeria to Europe, local media reported on Wednesday. The agency specialising in tackling organised crime arrested nine Syrians and six Algerians suspected of belonging to the group which trafficked Syrians and Lebanese, the report said. Millions of Syrians have been uprooted by 12 years of war in their country, and almost one million are in Germany. Lebanese have also been fleeing their country’s economic collapse.
During a five-month investigation, the Algerian police uncovered a network transporting the migrants to Benghazi airport in Libya, according to news website Ennaharonline. The migrants would then be taken by road to the Libyan town of Ghadames, from which they would cross the border on remote paths through the desert to Debdeb on the Algerian side. Finally they would be taken to the western Algerian city of Oran to prepare for clandestine sea crossings to Europe, according to Ennaharonline. Such crossing attempts claim the lives of thousands of migrants each year. The website said migrants had to pay “exorbitant” sums in foreign currency to reach Europe. During the operation, the police also reportedly seized more than $11,000 along with almost 9,000 euros.
