In the latest of a number of Mediterranean migrant boat tragedies, the Tunisian coast guard recovered the bodies of 16 migrants off the coast of the villages of Maloulech, Salakta, and Chebba on Monday.
“The bodies were found at the weekend and on Monday,” a senior official in the national guard, Houssem Eddine Jebabli, told Reuters. “The victims have not been identified because the bodies were decomposed.”
The area has been reporting an increasing number of dead migrants of both Tunisian and Sub-Saharan origin.
Last month the coast guard recovered at least 15 dead Tunisians, including three infants. Ten others are still missing after their boat capsized off the Tunisian coast at Djerba while attempting to cross to Europe.
In recent years, Tunisia has emerged as a key transit point for sub-Saharan African migrants and asylum seekers aiming to reach Europe.
The number of asylum seekers has been growing due to constant instability in the Sahel region, prompting many to seek better living conditions on the other side of the Mediterranean.
According to the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center think tank, the influx of migrants crossing through the country has caused the emergence of a “migration economy.”
Caught in the crossfire are the sub-Saharan migrants who find themselves caught between Tunisia’s attempts to leverage migration to pressure the European Union (EU) and the EU’s tightening of its shoreline security, the same source stated.
The think tank has suggested that the discord between the two positions may lead to a humanitarian disaster unless a Europe-Africa, circular migration strategy is implemented.