TUNISIA (AP) – The Tunisian Coast Guard says it has recovered the bodies of some 210 migrants washed up on the North African country’s central coast within two weeks as a surge in migrants continues.
According to Houssemeddine Jebabli, a preliminary examination of the body revealed that the migrants were from the National Guard of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of bodies recovered was announced on Friday. About 70 of the 210 dead migrants found in 10 days from 18 April came from the beaches of East Sfax, which borders Kerkena and Mahdia, according to migrant prosecutor Fawzi Masmoudi. recovered.
These three regions of his are the starting point for most attempts to migrate to the Italian coast, including trips to the remote island of Lampedusa, he added. The Habib Bourguiba Hospital morgue in Sfax is overwhelmed with 30-40 morgues.
To ease the pressure on hospitals, local authorities are working to speed up the burial of victims after DNA testing and identification by loved ones.
Romdhane Ben Amor, spokeswoman for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), a non-governmental organization that specializes in migration issues, said local authorities last year built a special cemetery for migrants. said it has committed to establish Muslim. “
But Cupid said that this was not over yet and that the burial place was becoming difficult to find.
Tunisia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday after a visit by his EU Home Affairs Commissioner Yilva his Johansson earlier this week that Tunisia and the EU will voluntarily return to their countries of origin for sub-Saharan migrants.
During their stay, EU officials met with Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Amal, Interior Minister Kamel Feki and Minister for Social Affairs Marek Ezahi. Migration to Europe is on the rise, peaking at 189,620 in 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration. This is the highest level since 2016, when nearly 400,000 people were displaced from their homes, and a year after more than one million, mostly Syrians, fled civil war in 2015.
The North African country serves as a stepping stone to Europe for many sub-Saharan Africans who do not require a visa to travel to Tunisia, but some come from Libya, which borders Tunisia.
