A thousand African nationals were intercepted off Tunisia as they tried to reach Europe illegally, a perilous crossing that claimed the lives of 14 other migrants this week, the Tunisian National Guard announced on Friday.
A total of 1,008 migrants, including 954 from sub-Saharan African countries and 54 Tunisians, were "
rescued
" overnight from Thursday to Friday off the coasts of the center (Sfax, Kerkennah, Mahdia) and east ( Sousse) of the country, the National Guard spokesman said in a statement.
No less than 25 illegal immigration attempts to Italy were foiled overnight, he added.
President's hate speech
On Thursday, the Tunisian authorities announced the death of 14 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, after the sinking of two makeshift boats off Sfax (center-east).
Some 54 other migrants were rescued during these attempts to reach the Italian coast from Tunisia.
This tragedy occurred at a time when many migrants from sub-Saharan African countries are seeking to leave Tunisia after President Saied's extremely harsh remarks against illegal immigration.
On February 21, Kaïs Saied affirmed that the presence in Tunisia of "hordes" of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa was a source of "
violence and crimes
" and was part of a "
criminal enterprise
" aimed at "
changing the composition demographic
" of the country.
After this speech, condemned by NGOs as "
racist and hateful
", nationals of sub-Saharan African countries reported an upsurge in attacks against them and rushed by the dozens to their embassies to be repatriated.
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According to official figures, Tunisia has more than 21,000 nationals from sub-Saharan African countries, most of them in an irregular situation, ie less than 0.2% of the country's total population, approximately 12 million inhabitants.
Tunisia, a North African country with certain stretches of coastline located less than 150 km from the Italian island of Lampedusa, very regularly records attempts to leave migrants for Italy.
According to official Italian figures, more than 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, arrived in Italy illegally from Tunisia in 2022.
