The Tunisian coast guard announced on Monday that it had rescued 455 migrants the previous night during several operations off the country's north, east and south coasts.
“As part of the fight against irregular immigration, National Guard units in the north, center, east and south have foiled 37 attempts to cross” maritime borders, the National Guard said in a statement.
During these operations, “455 people were rescued, including 289 of several African (sub-Saharan) nationalities, the rest being Tunisians,” said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, spokesman for the National Guard.
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In spring and summer, the number of illegal emigration attempts by Tunisians and other sub-Saharan African countries to Europe tends to increase each year.
The region of Sfax, in the center-east of the country, is one of the main points of departure for Tunisian and foreign migrants towards the Italian coasts.
Departures from Libya and Tunisia increased in 2021
Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe for migrants from North Africa, arriving mainly from Tunisia and Libya, two countries from which departures increased significantly in 2021.
At the end of May, more than 70 migrants from the city of Zouara in Libya had disappeared off the Tunisian coast.
Their boat, which was carrying a hundred people, had capsized off the coast of Sfax, the national guard had saved 24 of them but the others were not found.
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Last year, 15,671 migrants managed to reach Italian soil from the Tunisian coast, compared to 12,883 in 2020, according to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).
Nearly 2,000 migrants were reported missing or drowned in the Mediterranean in the same year compared to 1,401 in 2020, according to the IOM.