At least 12 people have been confirmed dead, including three children, and 10 remain missing after a boat sank while attempting to reach Europe off the southeastern coast of Tunisia’s Djerba Island, according to Al Jazeera.
A spokesman for Tunisia’s Medenine court added that the coast guard rescued 29 people who had been on board the crowded boat.
Four migrants who managed to swim back to shore alerted the Tunisian National Guard. According to the Human Rights Observatory, all but two of the passengers were Tunisians.
Tunisia and Libya have become major departure points for refugees and migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, risking perilous sea journeys in search of a better life in Europe.
Last year, over 1,300 individuals died or disappeared in shipwrecks off Tunisia’s coast, as the country faces economic stagnation and rising unemployment amid ongoing political tensions following President Kais Saied’s ongoing controversial decisions.
The central Mediterranean is one of the deadliest migration routes, with over 2,500 fatalities recorded last year and 1,116 since January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
The EU has intensified efforts to curb migration by providing resources to the Libyan coastguard, leading many migrants to become stranded in Libya under harsh conditions, as the country grapples with instability and rampant human trafficking since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The IOM reported that over 706,000 migrants were in Libya at the beginning of the year, though Libyan officials suggest the number could exceed two million.