The Tunisian navy rescued 101 migrants from Libya to Europe in the open sea, whose boat was routed near the Miskar gas platform, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
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The boat, spotted 67 km off the Tunisian coast, was carrying "
101 illegal migrants aged 1 to 50, including 6 women and 4 children
", of different nationalities, the ministry said in a statement.
They said they set sail on Friday evening from the Libyan port of Zouara, and were handed over to the authorities at the Tunisian port of Sfax.
In addition, in a second operation, the navy intercepted 13 Tunisian candidates for exile, aged 19 to 39, including two women, 40 km off the Tunisian coast.
They said they took to sea on Saturday evening from Djerba.
Departures from Tunisia and neighboring Libya have increased significantly over the past two years.
There were 11,000 departures from Libya between January and April 2021, 73% more than the same period last year, due in particular to the "
deterioration
" of the situation for foreigners in the country, according to the report. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Tunisia regularly provides assistance to migrants who left Libya, having been shipwrecked in the central Mediterranean, one of the deadliest migration routes according to the United Nations.
The UN counted at least 760 dead in the Mediterranean between January 1 and May 31, 2021, and 1,400 in 2020.
